
.1 



/S^ '-J 






i^:).,^vifj^ 



>J^'^".; 



^;h"S'^ 



hi 



{' 



) < 



v./ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



DDD0DD15Tbfl 



.<i> - u ' • . <p 











^.> f.^ -^ 



4 o 












'\/ -o,^^*/ \;^-y^ V*^%°^ \ 





"oV 









"^ *'*^% V 



-Jy-' ^ 





..* .'.^'. .,^^,. ,^, X^,.-' ;^\ -.^,. 















SIBERIA 
AND CENTRAL ASIA 



BY 

JOHN W. BOOKWALTER 



ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN 
BY THE AUTHOR 



^ 



Springfield, Ohio 
1899 



\.. 



nv"\ 



30545 

Copyright, 189Q, by 
JOHN W. EOOKWALTER 



TWO COPIES RECniVED, 







6^ 



PREFACE 

This book is the result of a trip through Si- 
beria and Central Asia, made by the author dur- 
ing the summer and autumn of last year. It con- 
sists mostly of letters written by him while on the 
journey, which were published by several Western 
newspapers. 

Owing to the great and increasing importance 
of the Eastern Question, the author has thought 
that it might be of interest to his friends to have 
these letters put into a more permanent form, 
illustrated by many views taken by him at that 
time. These views in themselves may, perhaps, 
be his best excuse for the book, as they give a 
better and clearer idea of these great regions than 
any words of his can convey. 

As the Eastern Question hinges largely upon the 
position of Russia, the author undertook this trip 
for the purpose of studying that country at short 



vi PREFACE 

range; and, owing to exceptional privileges granted 
to him, he has been led to think that the results 
of his observations there may serve as a contribu- 
tion to the better understanding of that question. 
He has, therefore, issued this book for private cir- 
culation, and asks the indulgence of his readers 
for a work thrown off during the excitement and 
fatigue of a long journey in new and most inter- 
esting lands. 

J. W. B. 
Springfield, Ohio, April, 1899. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

Trans-Siberian railway — Its commercial and political impor- 
tance — The effect it has already produced — Russia's mili- 
tary strength — Napoleon's estimate of Russian soldiers — 
Probable international complications to arise from Russia's 
industrial advance eastward — Our own relation thereto — 
General features of the Trans-Siberian railway — The trains 
and their equipment — Travel on the post-routes of Russia 
— Humane law respecting horses 



CHAPTER II 

The Russian steppes — Their similarity to the prairies and plains 
of the United States — The lands of Russia — Geological 
division of the same — The great Tschernoziom lands of 
Russia — Their capacity and products — System of farming 
in Russia — The yearly production of cereals — Exports of 
same — Russian live stock and export statistics — Manufac- 
turing and mining industries — Culture of Indian corn — 
Population of Russia — Distribution of same — The rural and 
urban population of Russia — Dwellings and other build- 
ings in the villages ........ 



CHAPTER III 

Emancipation of the serfs — Peasants now great land-owners — 
Emancipation rescript of Alexander 11. , in 1861 — Condition 
of the serfs prior to this act — General provisions of emanci- 



viii CONTENTS 



pation rescript — Obligatory redemption of lands — ^Measures 
to facilitate same — Distribution and allotment of lands to 
the serfs — Division of serfs into three categories — Effects of 
emancipation act — Its tendency to lessen conflict between 
capital and labor — Devotion of the peasant to his lot acquired 
by this act — An impediment to emigration to Siberia and 
other distant lands — Russia's position in the probable clash 
of nations — Number of serfs liberated under the emancipa- 
tion act — Date of the proclamation — The peaceful accom- 
plishment of this great act — Peace rescript of the present 
Czar — Is Russia rightly understood by other nations ? . 32 



' CHAPTER IV : 

Stations and restaurants on Siberian Railway — Equipment and 
safety of road — Syzran on the Volga River — The Tartar 
— Bridge on Siberian railway over the Volga River — The 
Volga, its size and importance as a highway — First view 
of the Ural Mountains — Their height, etc. — The city of 
Zlatoust — Government works and mines in the Ural Moun- 
tains — Summit of the Urals — Entrance into Siberia — 
Some facts concerning the Russian Empire — Eastern slope 
of the Ural Mountains — Crop conditions in the Volga Valley 
— A look ahead 43 



CHAPTER V 

The Asiatic continent — A glance at Siberia, its geography, 
physical characteristics, etc. — The great rivers of Siberia — 
Erroneous impression of Siberia — Vast area of level land — 
No difficulty in construction of railway — Similarity of 
Western Siberia to a great portion of the United States — 
The error of Americans respecting trans-Missouri River 
country — The route of the Siberian Railway — Its construc- 
tion and equipment — Stations on railway in Siberia — 
Track, bridsfes, etc. — Accumulated g-rain on the route from 



CONTENTS ix 

PAGE 

Kurgan to Tomsk — The necessity for increased facilities 
on Siberian Railway — Flora and fauna of Siberia — Agri- 
cultural resources of Siberia — Possibilities of the country . ']2i 



CHAPTER VI 

Ultimate Siberian railway system — Proposed line from Central 
Siberia to the Persian Gulf — New relations between Russia 
and China, arising from the Siberian Railway — Change from 
route as originally projected — New route to Vladivostok — 
Rapid settlement of country on Siberian Railway — Quick 
growth of towns on the line — Development of lands to fol- 
low railway extension— Grazing lands on Siberian Railway 
— Small lakes through Siberia— Timber in Western Siberia. 103 



CHAPTER VII 

Kurgan on the Tobol River — The Kirghiz Tartars — Their tents, 
villages, mode of life, etc. — The future of Kurgan — Winters 
in Siberia — No blizzards in Western Siberia — Rainfall — Pet- 
ropavlovsk on the Ishim River — Rapid change in country 
on railway line — Emigrant trains eastward — Growth of 
grains on the line of railway — Surplus awaiting shipment — 
Omsk on the Irtish and Om rivers — Interesting character — 
Tomsk on the Tom River — The prison in Tomsk — Flour- 
ishing college— Electric lights, telephone system, and other 
conveniences — Condition of railroad east of Tomsk — Va- 
rious excursions from Tomsk into the country . . . 123 



CHAPTER VIII 

Travelling on post and common roads in Russia and Siberia — 
Unique outfit — Splendor of private equipages — A Siberian 
tarantass — Manner of hitching the horses — Speed discom- 
forts and excitement of travel on tarantass— Seeing Tartar 
life in its simplicity — A queer-looking vehicle — Homely but 
effective — Experience versus philosophy — Furious driving — 



CONTENTS 



The village sheik — A compatriot of the great Circassian, 
Schemyl — A Mohammedan — His family life — Beauty and 
filial devotion of his children — His wives — Influence of the 
wife among the Kalmucks — Kirghiz village — Hospitality of 
our host — Our Yamstchik — His style and skill as a driver — 
Great speed of horses without use of whip — Return to 
Tomsk — Various modes of travel . . . . .152 



CHAPTER IX 

Return westward — Route across the Kirghiz steppes to the Cas- 
pian Sea — Down the Volga River to Astrakhan — Rise and 
commercial importance of that city — Modern trade diversion 
and its effects — Russia a land of fairs — Nijni Novgorod and 
its great fair — Kharkov, Ilinsk, and other leading fairs — 
Preferred route across the Caspian Sea to Central Asia — 
Importance of the Volga River as a means of transportation 
— Numerous fleets of coal-oil barges — Statistics of freight 
traffic on the Volga and Onega system — Partiality of Rus- 
sians for American products and methods .... 192 



CHAPTER X 

Development of Siberian agricultural resources — Its effect upon 
similar interests in other countries— Prime conditions gov- 
erning the future reclam.ation of lands in Siberia — Water- 
ways of Russia — Careful development of same — River sys- 
tem in Siberia — Severity of winters restrict their use — Sea- 
son of navigation — Omsk as a centre of a vast cereal region 
— Its possible connections by water and rail with foreign 
countries — Necessity for greater transportation facilities in 
Western Siberia — New route being created from Omsk 
to the Baltic — New route between Russia and Western 
Siberia— From Omsk to Havre or London— Comparative 
distances .......... 212 



CONTENTS xi 



CHAPTER XI 

PAGE 

Transportation route in Southwestern Siberia — Route between 
Caspian and Black seas — To connect the Volga and Don 
rivers — All-waterway between Caspian Sea and Europe — 
Neglect of American waterways — Careful preservation of 
same in Europe — Methods of utilizing rivers in Europe for 
transportation purposes — Use of the Seine in France — 
Through the heart of France in a boat — Neglect and decay 
of American rivers as lines of transport — Railways versus 
water transportation — What would result from thorough 
development of American river system — Russia's real 
progress — Great foresight — Not doomed to the fate of China 
— Russia in the field of diplomacy — The official class — Re- 
dundant population — Its danger to all nations — Unwisdom 
of developing urban at the expense of the rural population 
— Results in the necessity for land-grabbing — Wise policy 
underlying settlement of Siberia — Plan of settlement — 
Conserving old vested interests — Deterrent influences in 
settlement of Siberia — Rapid growth of population — Its cur- 
rent necessities — Probable effect of Siberia upon markets in 
other countries . . . . . . . ... 224 



CHAPTER XII 

Russian life in Siberia — Visiting various villages — Siberian 
towns and villages — Mostly frame or log houses — Efl"orts at 
ornamentation — Number and appointment of rooms — Cloth- 
ing of the natives — The Icon — The Russian peasant most 
religious — In the peasant's home — A mark of respect never 
to be omitted — Custom of recognizing the Icon in Russia 
universal — Fare of the peasant— A singular bathroom — 
The drink of the peasant — Two kinds of quass — Vodka, its 
use and effects — Salutary regulations by the government — 
Worthy of imitation by other nations — Siberia the land of 
the exile — Erroneous impression of the traveller — Courtesy 
of Russian officials — Abolition of serfdom — Its effects con- 
trasted with abolition of slavery in America — Administra- 



xii CONTENTS 



tion of justice — Respect for law and authority — Difficulties 
encountered by Russia in its development — Obstacles to its 
progress — Remarkable national development — Banishment 
of bank officials to Siberia — Their status during and after 
term of sentence — Punished for fraud at gaming — Not a 
good country for irregular practices — Passport system — 
Citizens of Russia required to have passport — Registration 
of same, fee, etc. — Effects of the passport system— Special 
passport required to leave Russia — Beneficial results of 
same 240 



CHAPTER XIII 

Passenger boats on the Caspian Sea — New lines of steamers — 
Petrovsk, on the Caspian — Excursion into the mountains 
— New railway to Baku — Great through line to Central 
Asia — Important influence of the Trans-Caspian Railway 
upon the world's affairs — Extension of same into China — 
Distance and time by this route to China — Direct and short 
route to Northern India — Projected line of railway from 
Orenburg to Tashkent — Ambitions of Russia in a new field 
— Great canal between the Black Sea and the Baltic — Great 
commercial and strategic importance of same — Steady and 
persistent progress of Russia — Her advance not rapid, but 
secure — Does not vaunt her enterprises — Effects upon politi- 
cal world of Trans-Caspian Railway to be greater than the 
Trans-Siberian Railway — Nev^ route from Merv to Herat — 
Its probable influence on Afghanistan — Projected lines into 
Persia — Line being built from Armenia to Northern Persia 
— Important results to arise therefrom in that country — New 
line projected from Samarkand southward to Karshi — That 
city the key to Northeastern Afghanistan — Possibility of 
formidable attack of Russia upon Northern India via Cen- 
tral Asia — No combination of powers could stay it — Unim- 
portant part naval forces would play in such a contest — Rus- 
sia's contiguous territory and interior operations a manifest 
advantag-e — Such a conflict m.ight require the whole power 
of Great Britain to repel — Russia's peace proposal — Her sin- 



CONTENTS xiii 



cerity in same — Prefers peaceful methods to those of war — 
Her superior strategical position — May not Russia's evident 
advantage over India operate to preserve peace ? — The 
fortunate position of America in the event of a great Asiatic 
war ......,,,.. 261 



CHAPTER XIV 

The great city of Baku — Its rapid growth — Cause of same — Still 
growing rapidly — The petroleum deposits in the Caucasus 
— Number of wells in operation — Limited exploration in 
Caucasian oil fields — New field north of the Caucasian range 
of mountains — Output of the oil wells in 1897 — Stories cur- 
rent in Baku — A lucky Tartar — Wonderful wells — Refin- 
eries in "Black Town," near Baku — Crude oil extensively 
used as fuel in Southern Russia — Desire to visit Central 
Asia — Importance of that country politically — The key to 
India, Western China, and perhaps Constantinople — Intri- 
cacies of European politics — India the real storm-centre — 
India indispensable to England's power and greatness— Her 
anxiety and efforts to preserve same — Her fear of Russia's 
designs upon India — Has relied upon her great navy — Her 
naval strength would avail but little to check Russia's ad- 
vance through Central Asia — Russia's railway building in 
Asia regarded as a menace to India — The "gospel of the 
machine" — Russian railway advance in Asia — Desire for 
alliances — The open door — Cautious measures of Russia in 
her Central Asian possessions . . , , . . 281 



CHAPTER XV 

Admission into Trans-Caspian country — Military railway — Spe- 
cial permit necessary in Trans-Caspian region — Across 
Northern Persia — On the Araxes River — First view of Mt. 
Ararat — Crossing the Araxes — Mt. Ararat — Grandeur of 
same — Ascent of Ararat — Armenian Cemetery — Across the 



xiv CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Araxes Valley — Erivan, the capital of Armenia — Mosques, 
palaces, etc. — Change under Russian rule — New railway 
line south of Erivan — Markets in Erivan — The great-tailed 
sheep — On the road to the Caucasus— Last view of Mt. Ara- 
rat — Curious religious sects — Picturesque Lake ofGoktcha 
— Height above the sea — The ancient monastery of Sevanga 
— Over the Delijan Pass — Descent of northern slope of Ar- 
menian mountains — Arrival at Akstafa on the Kura River . 294 



CHAPTER XVI 

The Caucasus — Its locality and extent — The Kura River — The 
Rion River — Area of the Caucasus — Population of the same 
• — Mountain ranges — The Greater and Lesser Caucasian 
Mountains joined by the Suram range — Climate of Caucasia 
— Products of the soil — Statistics of live stock — Valleys in 
Eastern Caucasus — Western Caucasia — Roads — Military 
road from Tiflis to Vladikavkaz — Roads in Southern Cau- 
casia and Armenia — Caucasia the gateway between Europe 
and Asia — Different races — Tiflis, the capital of Georgia — 
Its buildings, streets, etc. — The Georgian chieftain, Schemyl 
— The population of Tiflis — Many military and civil offi- 
cials — A trip to Borjom, Abbas-Tuman, and Kutais . . 328 



CHAPTER XVII 

Tiflis to Mtskheta — Great antiquity of that city — Founded by 
near descendant of Noah — Interesting old bridge — Pom- 
pey's conquest of this country — Route over the famous 
Dariel Pass — Journey up the valley of the Kura River — Soil 
and climate of the Caucasus — Agricultural operations — 
Various cereals and other products — Indian corn — Primi- 
tive implements — Cattle and buffaloes used to draw the 
plough — Cooperative operations — Remarkable results in the 
production of grain in the Caucasus — The cart or arba — 
The new line of the Trans-Caucasian railway — Petroleum 



CONTENTS XV 

PAGE 

pipe line over Suram Mountains — On the road to Borjom 
— From Borjom to Abbas-Tuman — Over the Lesser Cau- 
casian Mountains — Soldiers for escorts — Brigands — Mag- 
nificent view from summit — Kutais — Its history and impor- 
tance — Rich valley of the Rion — Return to Tiflis . . 349 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Return to Tiflis — Special permit to visit Central Asia — Great 
courtesy of the American Ambassador, Hon. E. A. Hitch- 
cock — Return to Baku — Passage across the Caspian Sea — 
Arrival at Krasnovodsk — A look about that city — Rapid 
growth of same — Its harbor and other natural advantages — 
Will become an important city — Railway station — Splendid 
structure — Curious mixture of natural products — Blending 
of Oriental and Occidental races — Possible result — Russia's 
fondness for American products — Use of same in Russia 
— Her probable future demand for Western products — 
America's opportunity — Trains on the Trans-Caspian Rail- 
way — Courtesy of the railway officials — Emigrants to the 
far East — Departure from Krasnovodsk — New petroleum 
field — Minerals and metals here — Uzum-Ada, the old ter- 
minus of railway — The plains of Turcomania — Persian 
Mountains — Central Asia — A vast depressed basin — Cas- 
pian Sea below ocean level — Similar depression in Sahara 
Desert — Russia's Central Asian possessions — Sterility of 
Turcomania due to lack of rainfall — Oasis of Merv — Strabo's 
reference to it — Three great level plateaus — Amu-Dariaand 
Syr-Daria Rivers ........ 379 



CHAPTER XIX 

The old bed of the Amu-Daria River — Across a desert — Oasis of 
Kizyl-Arvat — Among the Turcomanians — A splendid race — 
His dwelling — Women in Turcomania — Custom of poly- 
gamy — Purchase of wives — Weaving of rugs and carpets — 



xvi CONTENTS 



Their crude device for same — Work done mainly by girls — 
Inferiority of the new to the old product — Wealth of the 
Turcoman — Their food, clothing-, etc. — The camel — Roads 
in Turcomania — Caravans of camels — Along the Persian 
border — Askabad — New and beautiful city — Vegetable 
products of this region — Culture of cotton — Old Teke towns 399 

CHAPTER XX 

Location of towns on Russian railways — Her occupation of 
new countries — Dushak, the southern point of the road — 
Irrigation of oasis of Merv — New city of Merv^Railway 
from Merv to Herat — Confidence of Russia in Central 
Asia — Growth of cotton — The ancient city of Merv — Extra- 
ordinary mounds — Homeof Kuldja Khan — Curious custom 
of naming women — Fertility of the oasis of Merv — Pasture 
land and jungles — Wild animals — In the old city of Merv 
— Its extent and history — Complete desolation — Home of 
wild beasts — Former population — Founded by Alexander 
the Great — Its destruction 422 



CHAPTER XXI 

At Bairom-Ali — Imperial palace — From fertile fields to burning 
sands — March of Alexander through the desert — From 
sterile sands to fruitful fields — The Amu-Daria River — Its 
length, etc. — Quantity of water in the Amu-Daria— Great 
railway bridge being erected over the Amu-Daria — Pos- 
sible diversion of the course of this great river — The slow 
and vast operations of nature — Immense deposits of this 
great river — Karakul — Rearing of the sheep here known as 
Persian lamb .....*... 448 



CHAPTER XXII 

Bokhara — Courtesy of Russian officials — The Ameer of Bok- 
hara — Area and population of Bokhara — Its destruction by 
the Tartars — The ruling race — The Usbegs inferior to the 



CONTENTS xvii 

PAGE 

Turcomans — Mosques and colleges — The mosque of Ta- 
merlane in the Reghistan — Inferior to the ruins of Samar- 
kand — Palace of the Ameer of Bokhara — Citadel of Alp- 
Arslan —Bazaars in Bokhara — Buildings, etc. — Customs, 
police regulations, etc. — Vices and virtues of the Bokhari- 
ans — Temperance among the inhabitants — An agreeable 
contrast — Introduction of opium into Central Asia — An in- 
structive incident 466 



CHAPTER XXIIl 

Bokhara to Samarkand — Residence of Governor of Turkestan 
— His great civility — Beauty of Samarkand — Avenues of 
acacias and poplars — The old city of Samarkand — In ruins, 
but picturesque — Once a great capital — Splendor under the 
Arabs and under Tamerlane — A seat of learning — Archi- 
tecture in old city of Samarkand — Colleges in Samarkand 
— Mosques, tombs, and palaces — The Shah-Zindah — The 
Tilla-Kari and Khanym — Exquisite effect of tessellated tiles 
— The great mosque erected by sister of Tamerlane — Simi- 
larity of architecture between Central Asia and that of the 
Moguls in India — A huge pulpit and voluminous Koran . 493 



CHAPTER XXIV 

Medressehs or colleges in Samarkand — The tomb of Tamer- 
lane — The sarcophagus of the great Tartar — Interior orna- 
mentation — The Russian citadel — Kok-Tash, or throne of 
Tamerlane — The Shadman-Melik — Its peculiar construction 
— Excursion in the mountains — The beauty of Samarkand — 
Reminiscences of Alexander the Great — Social customs, 
etc. — Polygamy — Peculiar equipage ..... 514 



CHAPTER XXV 

Natives, or Sarts — Seeing native life and customs — Dinner at 
the residence of the Amban or native mayor of Samar- 



-/*• 



xviii CONTENTS 



kand — Our host and his guests — Oriental features of the 
occasion — Brilliant surroundings — The Russians — The 
dances — No women as dancers — Boy dancers dressed in 
the habits of women — The music of the Sart — At first un- 
pleasant — Wherein lies the charm of Oriental music — Due 
to rhythm — Influence hypnotic— Similar emotional state 
of howling and dancing dervishes — The dinner — Various 
native dishes, Kiabab, Cavourna, Pilaf, etc. — Oriental 
dancing — Producing similar effects by rhythm of motion — 
Concluding reflections ........ 531 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Visaed Passport, used by the Author in his Travels in Siberia 

and Central Asia ....... Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Trans-Siberian Railway Train — Observation Compartment in 

Rear Car 7 

II 
14 
15 
27 
29 
30 
45 
47 
49 



Railway Officials on Trans-Siberian Railway Train 

Russian Isvoshtchik, or Droshky Drivers 

A Russian Patyorka, or Five-horse Team 

Group of Peasants in Russian Village . . . 

Russian Peasant's Log Cabin in Commune or Village . 

A Village on the Russian Steppes ..... 

Syzran on the Volga River ...... 

Samara on the Volga River ...... 

Batraki on the Volga River ...... 

Great Bridge across the Volga River at Batraki on the Trans 

Siberian Railway ....... 

Russian Village on the Ufa River 

First View of the Ural Mountains after passing Wajsao 

waja, Trans-Siberian Railway ..... 
The Western Slope of the Ural Mountains on the Trans 

Siberian Railway, between Ufa and Zlatoust . 
Station at Zlatoust on Trans-Siberian^ Railway near the Sum 

mit of the Ural Mountains ..... 

Monument on Summit of Ural Mountains indicating Divid 

ing Line between Europe and Asia 
Eastern Slope of the Ural Mountains on the Trans-Siberian 

Railway, Midway between Zlatoust and Tscheljabinsk 
Eastern Slope of Ural ^vlountains on Trans-Siberian Railway 

Eigrhtv I\Iiles from the Summit of the Ural Mountains 



51 
':>?> 

54 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 



XX 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



On Trans-Siberian Railway just before arriving at Tschiel- 

jabinsk .......... 60 

Railway Station at Tscheljabinsk, the End of the First Section 

of Trans-Siberian Railway, at the Eastern Foot of Ural 

Mountains .......... 62 

Entering- the Plains or Steppes of Siberia on the Trans-Siberian 

Railway, One Hundred Miles East of the Ural Mountains 63 
Crossing the Siberian Steppes, Two Hundred Miles East of the 

Ural Mountains, on the Siberian Railway 
Kirghiz Tartar Aul or Village on Siberian Steppes 
View across Siberian Steppes, Three Hundred Miles East of 

the Ural Mountains ....... 

Group of Kirghiz Tartars at Station on Siberian Railway 

On Siberian Steppes, Three Hundred and Fifty Miles East of 

Ural Mountains ..... 
On Siberian Steppes, Eight Hundred Miles East of Ural 

Mountains 

View across the Irtish River, Siberia 

Station on Siberian Railway, Four Hundred 

Ural Mountains .... 

View across the Ishim River, Siberia 
On the Tom River, Siberia 
New Settlement on Open Steppes of Siberia, 

Miles East of Ural Mountains 
On Siberian Steppes or Prairies, Four Hundred and Fifty Miles 

East of the Ural Mountains ...... 

On Siberian Steppes, between Kurgan and Petropavlovsk 
Two Views across Siberian Steppes ..... 

View across Siberian Steppes, Five Hundred Miles East of th( 

Ural Mountains ........ 

Kirghiz Tartars and Camel Train on Siberian Steppes 
Railway Bridge over the Obi River on Siberian Railway . 
Railway Station on Siberian Railway, Eight Hundred Miles 
East of Ural Mountains, or over Two Thousand Miles 
East of Moscow ......... 91 

Station on Siberian Railway ....... 92 



Miles East o 



Six Hundred 



64 
65 

68 
69 

72 

72 
74 

7S 
77 
78 

79 

81 
82 
83 

86 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 



Sacked Grain awaiting Shipment at the Station on Siberian 
Railway between Omsk and Tomsk, over One Thousand 
Miles East of the Ural Mountains . . . . -93 

Passenger Train for Ordinary Service on Trans-Siberian Rail- 
way, making Daily Trips to Tomsk, nearly Three Thou- 
sand Miles East of Moscow ....... 94 

View on the Siberian Steppes, between the Tobol and Ishim 
Rivers. Emigrant Train crossing the Steppes to occupy 
New Lands .......... 95 

On the Open Steppes of Siberia, about One Thousand Mi'es 
East of the Ural Mountains, or nearly Two Thousand Four 
Hundred Miles East of Moscow ...... 96 

View across Siberian Prairies ....... 97 

Distant Herd of Cattle on Siberian Plains or Steppes . . 98 

Emigrants at Railway Station between Kainsk and Tomsk on 

the Trans-Siberian Railway ....... 99 

New Settlement on Siberian Railway, One Thousand Miles 

East of the Ural Mountains . ...... 102 

View across the Siberian Steppes, Nine Hundred Miles East of 
the Ural Mountains, or about Two Thousand Two Hun- 
dred Miles East of Moscow ...... 104 

Recent Settlement on Siberian Railway, One Thousand One 

Hundred Miles East of Ural Mountains .... 105 

Recent Settlement on Siberian Railway, Nine Hundred and 

Fifty Miles East of Ural Mountains ..... 107 

New Settlement on Siberian Railway, Two Thousand Five 
Hundred Miles East of Moscow, between Obb and 
Tomsk ........... 109 

New Settlement on Trans-Siberian Railway, One Thousand 
One Hundred Miles East of the Urals, and between Kri- 
wostchekowo and Kainsk . . . . . . .110 

Church in New Town of Obb iii 

New Settlement on Siberian Railway, One Thousand Two 
Hundred and Fifty Miles East of the Urals, or about Two 
Thousand Five Hundred Miles East of Moscow . . .113 



XXll 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Station on the Open Steppes of Siberia on the Trans-Siberian 
Railway, over One Thousand Miles East of the Ural 
Mountains, and about Two Thousand Two Hundred Miles 
East of Moscow ......... 

On the Siberian Steppes or Prairies, over One Thousand Miles 
East of the Ural Mountains, and about Two Thousand 
Two Hundred Miles East of Moscow . . . . . 

On the Siberian Steppes, between the Ishim and Irtish Rivers, 
on the Line of the Siberian Railway 

Recent Settlement on Siberian Railway, between the Obi and 
Tom Rivers, about Two Thousand Four Hundred Miles 
East of Moscow 

Lake on the Siberian Steppes 

Emigrants on Siberian Steppes^ East of the Obi River 

Chapel in recently settled Town on Siberian Railway 

Station at Kurgan, Siberian Railway . 

Kirghiz Tartar, Camels, and Camel Cart . 

Kirghiz Yurt, or Tent, and Group of Tartars on the Siberian 
Steppes, between Kurgan and Petropavlovsk 

Tartar Camel Train on Siberian Steppes . 

Church in New Siberian Village 



of Kirghiz 



Omsk, on 



A Tartar Dug-out on Road South of Omsk 

On the Post-route from Petropavlovsk to Omsk . 

Station at Petropavlovsk, Siberian Railway. Group 

Tartars ....... 

Street Scene in Omsk ...... 

Emigrants at Station, between Petropavlovsk and 

Siberian Railway . . . . . . 

Street Scene in Tomsk ..... 

On the Steppes of Siberia, East of Kurgan . 
Street Scene in Tomsk ..... 

Distant View of Tomsk 

Market Scene in Tomsk ..... 

Village in Siberia, in the Tom River Valley, on the Post-route 

from Tomsk to Tobolsk ....... 



114 

115 
116 



117 
118 
119 
121 

124 
125 

127 
129 
131 
133 
135 

137 
139 

141 

143 
144 

145 
145 

147 

148 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



XXlll 



Emigrant Train between Petropavlovsk and Omsk, Two Thiou- 

sand Miles East of Moscow ....... 149 

View on Post-route, between Tomsk and Irkutsk . . . 151 
Patyorka, a Five-horse Team on Siberian Steppes . . -153 
Another Mode of Travelling- in Siberia ..... 155 

Street Scene in Tomsk . . . . . . . .156 

Siberian Tarantass . . . . . . . . -157 

Native waiting for Ferry on Tom River . . . . .160 

Crossing Tom River, Siberia, on a Rude Ferry-boat . . . 161 

At the Post-house 163 

Taking Tea " Al Fresco" wnth a Russian Family at Post- 
house ........... 165 

Russian Village on Post-route, South of Tomsk, Siberia . . 167 
Ready to Start. At the Post-house on Post-route, South of 

Tomsk, in Direction toward Semipalatinsk .... 168 

Cathedral in Tomsk ......... 169 

Street Scene in Tomsk ........ 171 

Kirghiz Tartar Family on Siberian Steppes. The Tartar Yurt 

or Tent 173 

Great Forty-ton Bell at Cathedral in Tomsk . . . .177 
On the Turf at Tomsk ........ 179 

On the Home Stretch 181 

Street Scene in Tomsk 183 

Washerwomen at Tomsk ........ 185 

Railway Station on Siberian Railway, between the Obi and Tom 
Rivers, about One Thousand One Hundred Miles East of 

the Ural Mountains 187 

Station on the Trans-Siberian Railway, between Tomsk and 

Tiaga 189 

Street Scene in Astrakhan 193 

On the Volga River . . . . . . . . -195 

Fire Worshippers' Temple in Astrakhan 196 

The Kremlin in Astrakhan ....... 197 

Scene on the Landing at Astrakhan ...... 199 

View of the Upper Town of Nijni Novgorod, on North Bank of 

the Volea 201 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Town on the Volga River, between Kazan and Nijni Novgorod 

View of Nijni Novgorod, where the Great Fair is held, on South 
Side of the Volga ........ 

Picturesque Formation on the Volga River, Two Hundred Miles 
above Astrakhan ......... 

The Cathedral in Nijni Novgorod ...... 

Watermelon Market at Landing on the Volga River, between 
Simbirsk and Saratov ........ 

Fishing Village on the Obi River, Siberia . . . , . 

Town on the Lower Volga River ...... 

View across Tom River, Siberia ...... 

Ferry-boat on Tom River, Siberia ...... 

Houses for Storage of Grain and Wheat in Sacks awaiting Ship- 
ment at New Railway Station, Eight Hundred Miles East 
of the Ural Mountains, on Trans-Siberian Railway 

Scene on the Irtish River, Siberia ...... 

View across the Irtish River, Siberia ...... 

View across the Tom River, Siberia ...... 

Wharf-boat and Landing on Volga River, below Tzaritzin 

Town on the Volga River ........ 

Village in Siberia, between Tomsk and the Yenisei River. 

Houses in Small Siberian Town, on the Post-road to Tobolsk . 

Dwelling-house in Siberian Village, on Post-route from Tiaga 
to Tomsk ........ 

Siberian Village in Obi Valley 

New Village in the Valley of the Tom River, Siberia 

Cask of Water at Station on Siberian Railway, supplied 
Boiled Water for Use of Passengers 

The Great Petroleum City of Baku, on the Caspian Sea, 
Eastern Caucasus. View from the Bay 

General View of the City of Baku 

Cathedral in Baku ...... 

Railway Station in Baku ..... 

General View of the City and Harbor of Baku . 

Oil Field South of Baku, near the Shore of the Caspian Sea 
operated by English and French Capitalists 



with 
n the 



PAGE 

208 
209 

211 
213 
215 
216 
218 



219 
220 
221 

222 
225 
238 
241 

243 

245 
246 

247 

251 

262 
263 
266 
269 
280 

282 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Oil Field Northwest of Baku, Several Hundred Feet above the 

Sea Level, operated by Swedish and French Capitalists 
A Celebrated Spouter ....... 

Interior of the Ancient Palace of the Viceroys of Persia in 

Erivan ......... 

Caravan crossing the Araxes River, on the Borders of Russia 

and Persia, en route for Erivan, Armenia . 
On the Banks of the Araxes River, forming- the Boundary 

between Russia and Persia ..... 

Group of Natives at Kamerlu ...... 

In the Valley of the Araxes River. Little and Great Ararat 

Mountains in the Distance ...... 

Distant View of Mt. Ararat . . . . . 

Rude Ferry across the Araxes River .... 

On the Road to Mt. Ararat 

Cossack Cavalrymen on the Road to Mt. Ararat 
Returning from Mt. Ararat ...... 

Persian Cart or Arba . . . . . . . - . 

Market Scene in Erivan. Great Fat-tailed Sheep 

An Armenian Cemetery ....... 

View of Mt. Ararat, looking Southward from Erivan, the Capital 

of Armenia ......... 

New Mosque of Huessin Ali Khan in Erivan 

Street Scene in Erivan ....... 

Ancient Mohammedan Mosque in Erivan 

A Dukobortsi Village — a Religious Sect in Northern Armenia 

— on the Road from Erivan to Tiflis .... 
Regiment of Cossacks on their Way to Northern Border o 

Persia, on the Araxes River . . . 

Threshing Grain in Armenia ...... 

Little Island in Lake Goktcha, on which the Ancient Monastery 

of Sevanga is located ....... 

Skoptsy Village — a Peculiar Religious Sect with Remarkable 

Customs — in Northern Armenia .... 

On the Road to Lake Sevanga, in Northern Armenia, and on 

the Route from Elnofka to Akstafa .... 



284 
287 

295 

297 

298 
299 

301 
302 
303 
307 
309 
310 

311 

312 

313 

315 
316 
317 
319 

320 

321 
324 

324 

325 

326 



xxvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



On the Northern Slope of the Lesser Caucasian Mountains, 

after leaving the Delijan Pass ...... 327 

General View of the City of Tiflis ...... 329 

Street Scene in Tiflis 332 

View of Tiflis from the Fortress above the City . . . 233 

Street Scene in Tiflis ......... 335 

Valley of the Kura River, about One Hundred Allies East of 

Tiflis, and in the Vicinity of Akstafa ..... 336 

Floating Water-mills on the Kura River in the City of Tiflis . s^y 
Caucasians and Their Costumes ...... 340 

Funeral Cortege in Tiflis ........ 341 

The Theatre in Tiflis ......... 343 

Mounted Cossacks in Public Square in the City of Tiflis . . 344 
A Bazaar in the Persian Quarter in the City of Tiflis . . 345 

Street Scene in the Persian Quarter in Tiflis .... 346 

Street Scene in the Persian Quarter of Tiflis .... 347 

General View of Tiflis, from Elevation in Western Part of the 

City, looking Eastward ....... 350 

On the Kura River, in the Western Suburbs of Tiflis, on the 

Road to Borjom . . . . . . . . -351 

In the Kura Valley, between Tiflis and Mtskheta . . . 352 
On the Kura River, Caucasia, near Mtskheta .... 353 

In the Valley of the Aragya, on the Military Road over the 

Caucasian Mountains, from Tiflis to Vladikavkaz . . 355 
Over the Dariel Pass, on Military Road from Tiflis to Vladi- 
kavkaz. Mount Kasbek in the Distance .... 356 

Ploughing in the Kura Valley ... . . . . . 357 

Scene in a Farm Village on the Aragya ..... 360 

Scene between Mikhailov and Borjom ..... 361 

Cart, or Arba, used for Farm and Road Purposes . . . 363 

View near Gori, on the Kura River 365 

In the Kura Valley . . . 367 

Persian Minister's Residence in Borjom ..... 368 
The Summer Palace of His Imperial Highness the Grand 
Duke Michael, on the Banks of the Kura River, near 
Borjom ........... 369 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxvii 

PAGE 

His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Michael on his Daily Drive 

in Borjom .......... y]o 

Market Scene in Kutais ........ 371 

Soldier on the Mountain Side, after leaving Abbas-Tuman, on 

the Road to Kutais, over the Lesser Caucasian Mountains . yj^, 
Street Scene in Kutais ........ 374 

On the Summit of the Lesser Caucasian Mountains. Russian 

and Cossack Guards ........ 375 

Market Scene in Kutais ........ 377 

Krasnovodsk and Harbor, the Western Terminus of the Trans- 
Caspian Railway, on the Eastern Shore of the Caspian Sea 382 
New Railway Station at Krasnovodsk, the Western Terminus of 

the Trans-Caspian Railway ....... 384 

Trans-Caspian Railway Train ....... 387 

New Oil Wells recently opened on the Shores of the Caspian 

Sea, on the Line of Railway below Krasnovodsk . . 390 

Russian Military Encampment on Open Plains .... 391 

Station on Trans-Caspian Railway ...... 394 

View across the Plains of Turcomania, between Askabad and 

Dushak, on the Trans-Caspian Railway .... 396 

Turcomanian Tartars at Kizyl-Arvat, Station on the Trans- 
Caspian Railway 400 

Turcomanians and their Yurts or Tents ..... 401 
Turcoman Village on the Plains of Turcomania, between Kizyl- 
Arvat and Askabad ........ 403 

Turcoman Tents 405 

Turcoman Tartars at Geok-Tepe, Station on the Trans-Caspian 

Railway .......... 406 

Turcoman Girls weaving Carpets under a Temporary Canopy 

adjoining their Tent ........ 408 

Turcoman Tent on the Plains of Tartary ..... 409 

Camel Caravan crossing the Plains of Turcomania . . .411 
View across the Desert of Turcomania, looking toward the Per- 
sian Mountains ......... 414 

Turcoman Village on the Open Plains, between Geok-Tepe and 

Askabad .......... 415 



XXVlll 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Road 



Rail 



PAGE 
416 

418 
419 

426 
427 
429 

433 
435 

437 

439 
440 
441 
444 
445 
449 



Station at Askabad, on Trans-Caspian Railway 

Station of Dju-dju-kly, on the 7>ans-Caspian Railway 

Scene near Askabad . 

Irrigating- Canals in Oasis of Merv 

Extraordinary Mounds near Merv 

Home of Kuldja Khan . 

Distant View of Old City of Merv 

Gateway into Old City of Merv . 

In the Old City of Merv 

In the Old City of Merv 

Walls and Gateway of the Old City of Merv 

Distant View of Merv ...... 

Ruined Mosque of the Sultan Sanjare 

Ruined Mosque in Old City of Merv . . ... 

Old Walls around Ancient City of Merv. 

Old Wall and Gateway in City of Merv , . . , 

Across the Desert ....... 

Station at Bairom-Ali on Trans-Caspian Railway, on the 

to Bokhara ........ 

Bundles of Fagots used as a Sand Barrier to protect the 

way against the Drifting Sand .... 
Market Scene in the Town of Amu-Daria, on the Banks of the 

Amu-Daria River ...... 

On the Amu-Daria, above the City of that Name 
Temporary Railway Bridge over the Amu-Daria River 
Street in Amu-Daria ....... 

Railway Station at the New, or Russian, Town of Bokhara, the 

Old City being Twelve Miles from the Railway . 
New Palace being built by Russia for the Ameer of Bokhara, 

near the Station in the New, or Russian, Town of that 

Name ........... 

Old Mosque said to have been built by Tamerlane 

Summer Palace of the Ameer of Bokhara, between the New 

and Old Cities of that Name 464 

The Ameer of Bokhara 467 



451 

452 

453 
455 

457 
459 



462 
463 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxix 



Tower formerly used to execute Criminals by throwing them 

from the Top ......... 469 

Reghistan, or Market-place, in Bokhara, near the Old Citadel . 471 
Old Mosque, covered with Variegated Tiles .... 472 

Bazaar in Bokhara ......... 473 

A Graveyard in the City of Bokhara ...... 475 

Native Bokharians, Father and Sons ...... 477 

The Citadel in Bokhara, said to have been built by Alp-Arslan, 

the Persian King .......... 479 

Muezzin calling the Faithful to Prayer from the Minaret of a 

Mosque in Bokhara ........ 480 

View over the Roofs of the Houses in Bokhara .... 481 

Bazaar in Bokhara ......... 483 

Street and Old Mosque in the Neighborhood of the Reghistan, 

or Market-place 484 

Ruined Minaret, encased with Beautiful Variegated Tiles . 485 

Ruins of Ancient Mosque near the Reghistan, in Bokhara . . 487 
Irrigating Canals on the Plains of Bokhara, on the Road to 

Samarkand. Water drawn from the Zerafshan River . 488 

Palace of the Ameer of Bokhara ...... 489 

College, or Medresseh, in Bokhara ...... 492 

Park in the City of Samarkand, in Front of the Tomb of Tamer- 
lane ........... 494 

Street Scene in Samarkand ....... 495 

Mosque near the Reghistan, built by Tamerlane, in Samarkand 497 
Mosque near Centre of City, built by Tamerlane, called the 

Tilla-Kari .......... 498 

Street Scene in Samarkand ........ 499 

Street Scene in Samarkand, showing the Mosque of Khanym, 
erected by Tamerlane to his Favorite Wife, a Chinese 
Princess .......... 501 

Street Scene in Samarkand . 

Mohammedans at Prayer 

Entrance to the Mosque Shah-Zindah 

Variegated Coloring 
Medresseh, or Native Colleg^e, in Old Samarkand 



Tessellated Tiles 



. 502 

• 503 
with 

. 505 
. 507 



XXX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Street Scene in Samarkand. Street leading from Railway Sta- 
tion to the Citadel in the City 509 

Ruins of the Mosque built by Sister of Tamerlane . . 510 

Great Marble Pulpit in Front of Mosque built by Tamerlane's 

Sister 511 

Interior of Tamerlane's Tomb, His Sarcophagus and those of 

his Son and Prime Minister . . . . . . -515 

Street Scene in the New, or Russian, City of Samarkand . .517 
Tomb of Tamerlane, located on the Edge of a Great Park in the 

New, or Russian, City of Samarkand ..... 518 

Kok-Tash, or Throne of Tamerlane ...... 519 

Entrance to the Tomb of Tamerlane ...... 521 

Exterior of Tomb of Tamerlane, in New, or Russian, City of 

Samarkand .......... 522 

The Shadman-Malik, or Bridge of Tamerlane .... 523 

Street Scene in Samarkand . . . . . . . . 525 

Burial Place of Mohammedan Saints, near the Great Mosque 

of the Tilla-Kari, in Samarkand ...... 526 

A Queer Equipage. A Mohammedan and his Wives out for a 

Drive ........... 527 

Market Scene in Samarkand ....... 529 

A Mohammedan and his Wives. Scene in the Park in the New, 

or Russian, City of Samarkand ...... 532 

Natives, or Sarts. Father and Son ...... 533 

Medresseh, or Native College, located in the Old City of Samar- 
kand 534 

Street Scene in the Old City of Samarkand, leading from the 

Public Square to the Great Mosque of Tamerlane . . 535 
In the Old City of Samarkand, Street leading to the Great 
Mosque of the Shah-Zindah. Native Sarts in the Fore- 
ground ........... 536 

Street Scene in the Russian, or New, City of Samarkand . . 537 
Ruins of the Mosque of the Shah-Zindah, in tlie Old City of 

Samarkand .......... 538 

Entrance through the Enclosing Wall that surrounds the Tomb 

of Tamerlane, in the City of Samarkand .... 539 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxxi 



PAGE 



View in the Park in the Old City of Samarkand . . . 540 

Dancers and Musicians at Banquet in Samarkand . . . 541 

Native Musicians in the Old City of Samarkand . . . 543 

Dancers at Banquet in the Old City of Samarkand . . . 544 
Shadman-Malik, or Bridge of Tamerlane, over the Zerafshan 

River, Twenty Miles from City of Samarkand . . . 545 

Market Scene in the Old City of Samarkand .... 546 

Street Scene in the New Town of Samarkand .... 547 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



I 



Trans-Siberian railway — Its commercial and political importance — 
The effect it has already produced — Russia's military strength 
— Napoleon's estimate of Russian soldiers — Probable interna- 
tional complications to arise from Russia's industrial advance 
eastward — Our own relation thereto — General features of the 
Trans-Siberian railway — The trains and their equipment — 
Travel on the post-routes of Russia — Humane law respecting 
horses. 

Moscow, Jul}\ 1898. 

I AM Starting, in a few hours, on a long and 
somewhat trying journey right into the depths 
of Siberia. As most of my trip will be done on the 
new Trans-Siberian railway, you may be perhaps 
interested in the facts and details I have thus far 
been enabled to collect concerning this extraordi- 
nary enterprise, destined, as I believe, to have more 
far-reaching political, commercial, and even ethno- 
logical influences than any industrial and economic 
scheme that has ever been conceived or executed. 

It constitutes the first link in the great chain 
that will bind in close union, harmony, and sym- 



2 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

pathy, two of the mightiest branches of the human 
family, having racial and traditional affinities, and 
embracing almost one-half of the human race. 

Even in its partially completed condition, it has 
already perceptibly tilted the political and com- 
mercial world on its axis. It has thrown England 
into a state of great alarm for the safety of India, 
and has caused that descent of other European 
nations upon the China littoral, where, in a limited 
area, there is to be much future strife, wrangling, 
and, perhaps, profitless warfare. 

It almost takes one's breath away to contemplate 
the tremendous consequences that must ensue 
when, through material or other agencies, peoples 
whose wondrous past and present achievements 
suggest vast latent possibilities, are united by a 
common interest and policy. One can almost see 
the certain absorption of Persia and the Ottoman 
Empire on the one hand, and India on the other. 
In such an event, the world may see four-fifths of 
its population acting in accord, the permanence of 
which is guaranteed by ethnical affinities. 

In this view it must not be forgotten that, on 
account of the impenetrability of this vast region, 
no combination of forces could prevent or even 
arrest the execution of policies and schemes that 
diplomacy or interest might suggest. The history 
of Russia alone points a valuable lesson in this 



MILITARY STRENGTH OF RUSSIA 3 

connection. Of her population nearly nine-tenths 
are engaged in agriculture. It is not in this respect 
alone that she retains the characteristics of her 
ancient pastoral progenitors. The retreat of the 
Scythians before the hosts of Darius, described 
by Herodotus with such lively interest, until the 
invincible armies of Persia were worn out by the 
pursuit of a foe that would not fight and could not 
be captured ; the destruction of the legions under 
Crassus, which gave rise to the Roman proverb, 
" The retreat of the Parthians was more to be 
dreaded than the advance of any other army ; " 
down to the burning of Moscow by Rostopchin, 
which resulted in the annihilation of the greatest 
army and the greatest captain the world ever saw ; 
shows that, like her ancestors, she possesses and is 
ready to use the most fatal of resources. 
^ But the military strength of Russia lies not 
alone in this negative resource — which will ulti- 
mately prove true of all Asiatic races — as she 
surpasses all other nations in the extent of her 
armament. Her standing army is computed at 
1,500,000 to 2,000,000 of men, and she could 
quickly put herself on a war footing of four or 
five millions of men well appointed and equipped. 
In St. Petersburg alone there are no less than 
100,000, in Moscow 150,000, in the Crimea 150,000, 
in Poland 160,000, and it is said that there are 



4 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

also a quarter of a million in the Caucasus alone, 
and it is more than hinted that a large army is 
even now quartered in Tibriz, the second city in 
Persia. 

As by act of 1873 ^.H able-bodied subjects of the 
empire have to give a certain number of years of 
active service in the army, one can form some idea 
of what a vast military element exists among 
130,000,000 of people, and which could, under an 
emergency, be quickly materialized into an avail- 
able army. 

They are, moreover, of the best fighting material 
in the world, being obedient, patient, subservient 
to rule and discipline, and rugged and hardy, un- 
equalled, perhaps, by any other race. 

When looking at the splendid armies one sees 
everywhere, one does not wonder at Napoleon's 
saying after his reverse at Moscow, *' that if he had 
an army of Russians, it would not be long before 
the universe had but one god and the world only 
one emperor." The discomfiture of the English at 
Pekin at the hands of Pavloff, and the still more 
recent and equally humiliating one at the court of 
Persia by the Russian minister there, shows that 
Russia is as skilful and powerful in diplomacy as 
in the field. Her recent appropriation of 90 mil- 
lions of dollars — making over 300 millions within 
a few years — for the building of iron-clads, caused 



WESTERN HEMISPHERE FOR AMERICANS 5 

England to hastily revise her budget, attended with 
ugly rumors of the necessity of some sort of con- 
scription. 

The spectre of approaching Russian Asiatic 
domination, with its sure bearing upon India, no 
doubt has led to the recent frantic desire of Eng- 
land for alliances, even when of the most incon^ru- 
ous nature. Our own country has a destiny apart 
from all other nations, and I hope it will keep clear 
of all those complications that would hamper it in 
its right growth and development. No nation has 
ever equalled the Americans in those admirable 
qualities so necessary for the settlement and de- 
velopment of new countries. 

This is our special province and our appointed 
destiny, and in the Western Hemisphere alone 
there will be for all time an ample field wherein to 
exercise our choicest energies and abilities. If we 
prove true to ourselves and our manifest duties, 
and allow no dissipation of our energies and forces 
by becoming involved in the intricate affairs of re- 
mote countries, but confine our expansive forces 
to the Western Hemisphere, we will quickly build 
up an empire second to none. I should regret to 
see our country lose its " free hand " by any alliance 
which in these days of growing international com- 
plications must prove entangling. It would be es- 
pecially undesirable with a nation under whose gen- 



6 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

tie allurements of philanthropy and " unrestricted 
trade," and much display of "unctuous rectitude," 
there too often lies the covert desire to use other 
people in the accomplishment of her selfish aims. 
/ Excuse this digression. I set out to simply 
write you of my Siberian trip. The line of the 
Trans-Siberian railway runs in a general way 
through middle European Russia, the centre of the 
southern part of Western Siberia, and along the 
southern border of Eastern Siberia. Its western 
terminus is Moscow, and in the east, Vladivostok 
on the Pacific Ocean. It is difficult to determine 
its exact length, as the recent Russian-Chinese rela- 
tions that have sprung up have caused Russia to 
change the original route down the Amur River in 
East Siberia. A commission has recently left here 
to make a new survey from a point about 1,200 
miles west of A^ladivostok, with the intention of 
radiating from that point several lines through 
Manchuria eastward, as China has recently given 
Russia extensive concessions in that province. 
One of these lines will run direct to Vladivostok 
through Manchuria, and, joining with the main 
line from ^loscow, will thus make a much shorter 
route than the one originally designed to run down 
the Amur River, of which nearly 1,000 miles is now 
completed. Even under the new survey the line 
will not be less than 6,100 miles long. 



SIBERIAN RAILWAY TRAIN 



7 



There is now completed about 4,000 miles of 
road from Moscow east, on which trains are run- 




TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY TRAIN. — OBSERVATION COMPARTMENT IN 
REAR CAR 

ning. On the last 1,000 miles, however, only con- 
struction trains are running, with an occasional 
mixed passenger train at intervals of about a fort- 



8 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

night. In the last six weeks they have put on a 
through train that runs from Moscow to Tomsk,, 
on the Tom River. This train leaves once in ten 
days and furnishes fairly comfortable facilities. 
Ordinary trains that break the journey at many 
points run also, at irregular intervals, as far as 
Omsk. The distance from Moscow to Tomsk is 
about 3,000 miles. It is the through train that I 
am taking. Whatever expeditions I make east of 
Tomsk will have to be done on construction trains, 
or over the old Siberian post-route by troikas or 
droshkies — curious vehicles drawn by three or five 
horses. 

It is most difficult to get anything like accurate 
information concerning either this great line or the 
country along the road east of the Volga River, as 
few travellers as yet have gone into that region. 
Judging, however, from what I see here at the 
western terminus of the road, everything is being 
done in the most thorough manner, and indicates 
that the Russian is fully alive to the great value 
this road will be to the Empire, and the marvellous 
changes to be wrought by it. 

The station here, at which the line begins, is a 
marvel of architecture. Next to that of the Grand 
India Peninsular Railroad in Bombay, it is the 
most splendid railway station I have ever seen. In 
its features, it furnishes additional evidence of what 



MAGNIFICENCE OF TRAINS 9 

you discover on all hands as you go eastward, of 
the fusion of things Occidental and Oriental. In 
this structure the bizarre effect produced by the 
blending of the plain, practical materiality of the 
West with the florid idealism of the East is at 
once surprising and charming. It is more like a 
palace than a railway station. 

The Government (for almost all railways here 
are run by the Government) is most active in its 
preparations for the future operation of the road. 
I was shown a train in course of preparation that 
is to be one of the many that are to run over the 
entire length of the line when completed. The 
scale of magnificence upon which they are to be 
operated is a surprise even to one familiar with 
the splendor of our own metropolitan trains. 

The trains will be composed wholly of sleep- 
ing, parlor, and dining cars, an elegant salon occu- 
pying fully one-half of each car at the middle, 
having piano, writing-tables, maps, library, etc. 
Besides the usual toilet-room there is an elegant 
bath-room, where at a small cost we can have a 
warm or cold bath. There is also to be a room 
fitted up especially for gymnastic exercise, with 
dumb-bells, frictional apparatus for muscular de- 
velopment, and all the newest belongings of such 
an establishment. The trains will be of the ves- 
tibule type, with electric lights and signals, air 



10 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

brakes, and other first-class accessories. In addi- 
tion to the general director of the train, each car 
has for its service a porter and a special guard, so 
that a train of seven or eight passenger coaches 
will have from twenty to thirty officials and em- 
ployees connected with it. In fine, when once in 
full operation, they will, in luxury and comfort, 
more resemble a trans-Atlantic steamship than a 
trans-Asiatic railway train. 

The compartments, on account of extreme 
height and size, will have an airy comfort quite 
in agreeable contrast with the low ceilings and 
stuffy character of many of our first-class cars. 
Not least of the inspiring things of this great 
enterprise is the low fare that will be charged, 
being less than one cent and a half per mile, 
including expense of sleeping-car. As the 
through trains can be run at thirty to thirty- 
four miles per hour, the trip from Moscow to 
Vladivostok will ultimately be made in eight to 
nine days. It is not among the improbable 
things that within ten years one can make a con- 
tinuous trip from Paris to Pekin, a distance of 
something over 8,000 miles. 

If this route does not become the most interest- 
ing and agreeable in the world, it will not be the 
fault of the Russian government. One can form 
some feeble notion of the vast future possibilities 



TRAVEL ON POST-ROUTES 13 

when we reflect that it is the connecting link 
between 500 millions of people in the east and 
300 millions in the west. It is my intention to 
go to Irkutsk, and also to Tobolsk, if the journey 
by the old post-route does not prove too fatigu- 
ing. Post travel is anything but a luxury in 
Russia. Although the roads on the main routes 
are excellent, almost equal to those in France, 
the troikas are much wanting in comfort, and the 
Isvoshtchik is a furious driver and the horses 
are spirited. 

They usually have from three to five horses, 
according to condition of road, and hitched 
abreast. The posts are about eighteen versts — 
twelve miles — apart, where relays are secured. 
When ready to start, the driver takes the lines 
in his hands, and scarcely touches his seat when 
the horses suddenly spring into a full gallop, 
which pace they keep right up until the next post 
is reached. A distance of 200 miles can thus 
readily be covered in a day ; that is, in a day and 
night. The driver, however, is a lazy fellow, and 
a vast amount of time is needlessly wasted in the 
change of horses. Were it not for this delay, 250 
miles or more might easily be made. I am told 
that in some cases military and other officials 
make over 300 miles in a day on sledges in the 
winter. 



14 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Speaking of horses, there Is a notable law In 
effect in most of the large Russian towns concern- 
ing them, that deserves especial mention. Among 
the curious things that arrest the attention on ar- 
riving in Moscow, Is the entire absence of whips 




RUSSIAN ISVOSHTCHIK, OR DROSHKY DRIVERS 



among the drivers of carriages, cabs, and all sorts 
of vehicles. On inquiry, I was informed that there 
was a law prohibiting their use or in any way pun- 
ishincr a horse. I don't believe there is a sincrle 
whip in use in Moscow. Even to strike a horse 
with a catch of the lines is forbidden, and punished 



THE HORSES OF RUSSIA 17 

if discovered. The excellent condition of the 

horses fully attests the benefits of this humane law. 

Nothing can exceed the beauty of the sleek and 

well-groomed horses used in the carriages of 

Moscow. 

I have succeeded in securing the services of an 

excellent valet. He is a Caucasian, a native of 

Tiflis. His native language is Russian, but he 

speaks English quite well, as also French, German, 

Italian, Swedish, Tartar, and almost everything 

else. Although he has never been to Siberia, still 

his knowledge of the country and its customs will 

render him most useful to me. I will write you 

again when I get beyond the Volga River and 

Ural Mountains, where the novel attractions of 

Asiatic Russia really begin. 
2 



II 



The Russian steppes — Their similarity to the prairies and plains of 
the United States — The lands of Russia — Geological division 
of the same — The great Tschernoziom lands of Russia — Their 
capacity and products — System of farming in Russia — The 
yearly production of cereals — Exports of same — Russian live 
stock and emport statistics — Manufacturing and mining indus- 
tries — Culture of Indian corn — Population of Russia — Distribu- 
tion of same — The rural and urban population of Russia — 
Dwellings and other buildings in the villages. 

TSCHELJABINSK, SIBERIA, AugUSt^ 1 889. 

I am writing you from Tscheljabinsk (pronounced 
Chee-lay-ah-binsk), a small but interesting and pic- 
turesque town 100 miles east of the Ural Moun- 
tains, and about 1,400 miles east of Moscow. The 
route I have come, therefore, is much the same as 
going from Indianapolis to Denver. 

Not only in distance does the comparison hold, 
but in a striking manner in a geographic and physi- 
cal sense also. To all Americans who have travelled 
to the Rocky Mountains through the States of 
Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, 
the country I have come through is easy to de- 
scribe. To simply say it is exactly like it would 



TSCHERNOZIOM LANDS 19 

constitute a more or less perfect description. In- 
deed, I have never seen any two things more abso- 
lutely similar than are the prairie and plain regions 
of our country and that vast region lying in south- 
east Russia, extending from Tula east to the Ural 
Mountains, a distance of over 1,000 miles, and from 
Nijni Novgorod south to the Caspian Sea, a dis- 
tance of 1,200 miles. It is called by the Russians 
Tschernoziom, or black earth. It is also known as 
the steppe, which is Russian for prairie. The soil 
is black, and seems identical with that of Illinois 
and Iowa, although, I think, somewhat stronger 
than in those States. 

To generalize crudely, the lands of Russia 
would be divided into two classes : the woodland, 
covering the northern part and composed of the 
rougher elements or detritus of the ancient glacier 
that once spread over the greater part of Russia, 
and by whose action its varied soils were pro- 
duced ; and the Tschernoziom, coverine in a een- 
eral way the southern half of the country. 

The first is covered mainly with forests, marshes, 
and sand wastes, although interspersed with many 
deposits of vegetable mould, giving more or less im- 
portant areas for culture. The Tschernoziom region 
is almost coincident with that of the steppe. It 
extends in a northeastern direction over thirty 
or forty of the largest provinces of Russia, from 



20 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

Podolia and Bessarabia in the southwest, to Ufa 
and the Urals in the east, and from the Black 
Sea to Moscow. 

This formation is of surpassing fertility, and 
within its limits the greater portion of the nation's 
agricultural surplus is produced. It covers an area 
of something like 300 millions of acres, and in its 
productive capacity must exceed that of the other 
lands in European Russia. 

Spring wheat, rye, oats — indeed, all the cereals 
grow here in the most wonderful manner in a fair 
season, and every acre is under a good state of 
cultivation. 

The system of farming practised throughout the 
Tschernoziom region and much in vogue in the 
steppe formations generally, such as the Kuban and 
Don Cossack regions in southern Volga districts 
and the northern Caucasus, is what is known as 
the resting system. It is simply the alternation 
of cereal crops at stated intervals with pasturage. 
By giving up the lands to pasture that have been 
cropped for several years with various grains, the 
soil recuperates naturally without much aid of arti- 
ficial fertilizers. It is practically the same method 
followed by many of our own farmers, and known 
as converting cultivated fields into fallow lands. 

There will therefore be found, throughout great 
areas, many open fields devoted to grazing, and 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 21 

supporting great herds of cattle, sheep, horses, and 
other domestic animals, interspersed among fields 
devoted to the culture of rye, wheat, oats, spelt,, 
and other cereals. 

A few statistics as to what Russia is producing 
in the way of grains, while they may not prove in- 
teresting, may at least be instructive. In 1893-94, 
in the fifty governments of European Russia — not 
includinor Finland and Poland — there was a little 
over 24,000,000 of desetines, or about 65,000,000 
acres, given to rye, which in this country ranks 
as of first importance, and constitutes the main 
article of food consumed by the masses, especially 
the peasantry. This will serve to explain why so 
large a proportion of a relatively small wheat 
crop is exported to foreign markets. 

Just here it may be well to take some note of 
Russia's grain shipments to foreign countries. 
During the six years from 1888 to 1893 inclusive, 
which also embraces the famine year of 1890-91, 
her exports of all grains amounted to an annual 
average of 380,000,000 pouds, or nearly 220,000,- 
000 bushels. Of this total, 320,000,000 pouds, or 
a little over 200,000,000 bushels, was made up of 
the four great cereal staples — wheat, rye, barley, 
and oats ; wheat alone accounts for an annual 
average during those years of 150,000,000 pouds, 
or 90,000,000 bushels ; oats, 58,000,000 bushels ; 



22 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

barley, 40,000,000 bushels, and rye, 41,000,000 
bushels. Thus it will be seen that, estimating 
by weight, wheat constituted during those years 
almost half of the gross grain exports. The total 
value of Russia's entire annual exports and imports 
is about $700,000,000, and the value of her exports 
exceeds that of her imports by about $150,000,000 
per annum. 

The outturn of rye for 1893-94 was nearly 700,- 
000,000 bushels. Of the lands given to this crop, 
I might add that nearly 19,000,000 desetines, or 
about three-fourths, belong to the peasants, and 
the remaining 5,000,000 to the large landed pro- 
prietors. Both spring and winter wheats are cul- 
tivated, the latter mainly in the southern and 
southeastern governments, and the former in the 
western portion and the higher latitudes. They 
are, moreover, produced in the proportion of about 
six acres of the former to three of the latter. 

In 1893-94 there were 240,000,000 bushels of 
wheat produced, of which the peasants are accred- 
ited with the usual proportion of six-tenths. Oats 
were cultivated to the extent of 36,000,000 acres, 
with a yield of nearly 600,000,000 bushels. The 
yield of barley was 136,000,000 bushels, and of 
buckwheat 60,000,000 bushels. Besides, some 
40,000,000 acres were devoted to other cereals, 
such as millet, pease, spelt, potatoes, etc. 



BEET CULTURE AND LIVE STOCK 23 

It might also be mentioned as an important 
feature in the agriculture of this country that the 
beet-sugar industry is a large and rapidly growing 
one. In 1893 there were 800,000 acres under 
beets, yielding 35,000,000 pouds, or about 600,000 
tons of sugar. To manufacture this there were, at 
that time, 230 factories in Russia, employing some 
90,000 persons. 

There were in Russia in 1893, 26,000,000 horses, 
over 34,000,000 cattle, 65,000,000 sheep, and over 
12,000,000 swine. The dairy interest is large, 
widely diffused, and rapidly growing. Beside, sup- 
plying almost incalculable quantities for home 
consumption, butter, cheese, and other products 
of this industry are extensively exported. From 
1886 to 1893 the annual average exportation was, 
of cheese nearly 3,000,000 pounds, and of butter 
16,000,000 pounds. 

Live stock is an important article of export, 
and of wool there is an annual exportation of 
70,000,000 pounds. It may not be an unin- 
teresting fact to mention that of the rather insig- 
nificant item of hogs' bristles over 6,000,000 
pounds are sent to foreign countries yearly. 

Having given somewhat in detail the agricul- 
tural capabilities and products of Russia, it may 
be well to here present briefly, in so far as avail- 
able statistics may disclose, what she is doing in 



24 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

the way of manufacturing. In 1892, there were 
in Russia 34,680 manufactories, employing nearly 
1,500,000 operatives and workmen, producing 
about $800,000,000 worth of products, or an 
annual output of $550 for each workman. 

Of this number there were 2,350 manufactories 
engaged in producing cotton, linen, woollen, and 
kindred fabrics, and employing 425,200 operatives. 
Nearly 3,000 factories were engaged in making 
leather goods. Of flour, starch, malt, wool, saw- 
mills, and others of like nature, there were 8,150, 
employing 80,000 operatives. Of cast-iron there 
were produced in 1890 about 1,200,000 tons, 
employing 233,000 workmen. There were 1,881 
manufactories and mills engaged in producing 
iron, steel, machinery, and other metal products, 
employing 118,000 workmen, with an annual 
turnover of about $100,000,000. In nearly 2,000 
mines (gold, copper, platinum, silver, lead, tin, 
and other metals), there were employed 106,000 
workmen. 

The flax and hemp products of Russia merit 
especial mention, since it easily ranks the rest of 
the world in this important industry. In 1890- 
91 the entire world's crop of flax fibre was 1,102,- 
600,000 pounds. Of this total Russia produced 
630,000,000 of pounds, or nearly sixty per cent. 
In that year Russia produced 306,400,000 pounds 



PRODUCTION OF FLAX AND HEMP 25 

of hemp fibre, or near forty per cent, of the entire 
European crop. 

It will thus be seen that of these two valuable 
staples Russia is to be credited with nearly one- 
half of the world's product. Of this amount she 
gathers yearly, about one-third is consumed in her 
own mills, and in this branch of manufacturing 
she stands second only to Great Britain, having 
in operation 420,000 spindles and 13,000 looms, 
or more than one-third of those in operation in 
the United Kingdom, and somewhat in excess of 
either France, Germany, Italy, or other European 
states. Her exports of flax and hemp fibre are 
over 500,000,000 pounds annually. 

Without a moment's intermission, you see on all 
hands the landscape stretching ^vay in intermi- 
nable prairies and rolling plains. As in our own 
country, it is traversed by a few large rivers and 
many small streams, and by those peculiar western 
gullies or draws, fringed with shrubbery. 

On looking out of the car window, were it not 
for the quaint appearance of the people, with their 
queer, particolored costumes, the Saracenic aspect 
imparted by the mosque-like churches, with their 
rich coloring and gilded domes, that dot the land- 
scape everywhere, one would think he Avas in 
Illinois or Nebraska. The land, like our western 
plains, supports a rich herbage, and is covered with 



26 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

great herds of cattle, sheep, horses, etc. While 
the cattle are neither so large nor well bred as in 
America, still they furnish an excellent beef ; in 
fact, I never ate a finer beefsteak than you will 
get along the route at the hotels and railway 
restaurants. 

To an American, the one ereat difference be- 
tween this and the great West is the conspicuous 
absence of Indian corn. As this is about latitude 
fifty-six degrees, being nearly i,ooo miles north of 
the Ohio River, it will not mature here, but in 
South Russia and the Caucasus it grows and 
matures quite as well as in America. 

The area of Indian corn in Russia proper is 
given at only a little over 1,000,000 acres, with 
a production of 18,000,000 bushels. This is, 
however, confined to a small extent of country 
closely bordering on the Black Sea. In the 
northern Caucasus, however, and the western part 
of the trans-Caucasian region, immense quantities 
are grown, and yield a large surplus for foreign 
markets. 

The distribution of population in Russia Is some- 
what peculiar. As I have before said, nearly nine- 
tenths of the people are engaged in agriculture, 
and only from ten per cent, to fourteen per cent. 
live in the cities. 

In 1893, out of a total population in European 



fl # . LI 


_N. 


^. 




l'^^ 


1 

»• 


1 










\m^^ 


- 


% 
>-3 


HilkM 






■ :l,^w\^| 


.;;-^.g«fajH^ " 




^^^^^^^^L >.i' ■ •■■^'^ ,y- 




F --^ 


i 

9 


mi imjun^. «4^ji^jjm 


L 





DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION 



29 



Russia of 91,800,000, including the governments 
of Finland and Poland, about 80,000,000 were resi- 
dents of the country and only 12,000,000 lived in 
the cities. In Asiatic Russia (Siberia, the Cau- 




RUSSIAN PEASANT S LOG CABIN IN COMMUNE OR VILLAGE 



casus, and Central Asia), even a more marked dis- 
proportion exists, as out of a total population of 
18,000,000 in those countries, less than 2,000,000 
were dwellers in the cities. 



30 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

There are a few grand cities like St. Petersburg, 
Moscow, Warsaw, and Odessa, with from 250,000 
to over 1,000,000 inhabitants; then there are quite 
a number of cities of 40,000 to 150,000 inhab- 




M 



!^ 




A VILLAGE ON THE RUSSIAN STEPPES 

itants ; after that, there' are none that possess the 
features of a great city, or that can be classed as 
such. The rest of the population is wholly con- 
tained in farm villages or communes of from 50 
to 300 or 400 families (as the Russian farmer 



PEASANT DWELLINGS 31 

rarely lives on his farm), scattered in immense 
numbers throughout the country. It is not an 
uncommon thing that a dozen of these villages 
are in sight at one time. 

The buildings of these villages are mostly of 
wood and thatched. Many of them are made of 
of logs and much resemble the primitive log cabin 
the West. Being, however, more ornate in ex- 
terior finish, and in contour resembling very much 
the Swiss chalet, they often have a pleasing effect. 
There invariably rises out of the midst of these 
villages an imposing church edifice, always of the 
Greek Church, most beautiful in its exquisite pro- 
portions and rich coloring. 



Ill 



Emancipation of the serfs — Peasants now great land-owners — 
Emancipation rescript of Alexander II., in 1861 — Condition 
of the serfs prior to this act — General provisions of emanci- 
pation, rescript — Obligatory redemption of lands — Measures to 
facilitate same — Distribution and allotment of lands to the serfs 
— Division of serfs into three categories — Effects of emancipa- 
tion act — Its tendency to lessen conflict between capital and 
labor — Devotion of the peasant to his lot acquired by this act— 
An impediment to emigration to Siberia and other distant lands 
— Russia's position in the probable clash of nations — Number 
of serfs liberated under the emancipation act — Date of the proc- 
lamation — The peaceful accomplishment of this great act — 
Peace rescript of the present Czar — Is Russia rightly understood 
by other nations ? 

In no country, perhaps, not even excepting 
France, where the desire to possess land assumes 
almost the form of a mania, is there to be found a 
class so supremely a land-owning class as the peas- 
antry of Russia. Excluding a few provinces in 
Finland, Poland, and the Baltic, it is rare to find 
among the peasants of this country one who 
does not possess a lot or tract of land of some size, 
somewhere in the circle of the empire. Indeed, it 
is said that even the artisans and laborers in the 
towns and villages are almost invariably the owners 



EMANCIPATION ACT OF ALEXANDER II 33 

of a plot of land, sometimes even in remote quar- 
ters of Russia. 

This fact constitutes one of the impediments to 
a more rapid and general development of the man- 
ufacturing and industrial interests of Russia. The 
agricultural element so vastly predominating over 
the urban, necessitates a reliance upon the rural 
population to supply the needed labor in the facto- 
ries. The devotion of the peasant to his humble 
holding of land, to which he invariably returns at 
stated seasons to cultivate, thus abandoning his 
position as an artisan, prevents that permanent 
organization of labor so needful to secure success 
in manufacturing and commercial enterprises. 

This exceptional feature of peasant life finds, in 
some .measure, a solution in the condition of this 
class prior to the emancipation act of Alexander 
II. in 1861. 

Previous to that great epoch the peasants were 
entirely the serfs of either the state, the crown, or 
the nobility, to whom they stood in a relation of 
the closest personal dependence. Of the whole 
peasant or serf class, there was, at that time, some- 
thing like 11,000,000 families, of which about 
forty-six per cent, belonged respectively each to 
the state and the nobility — or private persons — 
and about eight per cent, to the crown. Those 
who lived on the lands of the nobility were usually 



34 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

permitted to cultivate a tract of land at their own 
expense, out of which they derived their subsist- 
ence, and it- became known as the peasant lot. 
Beyond this necessary labor, he was bound to work 
under the direction, control, and for the sole benefit 
of the landlord, who possessed the legal right, 
under vague limitations, to dispose of the person 
and property of the peasant. Thus, by the sanc- 
tion of custom and long usage, there dawned that 
first peasant proprietary right or usufruct, which 
under the benign rescript of 1861 suddenly bright- 
ened into the full day of individual freedom and 
property right. By this act of emancipation, not 
only was the obligatory relation of dependence of 
peasant to owner absolved, but it also provided for 
a compulsory redemption of the lands of the no- 
bility or private owners occupied under the former 
shadowy rights of the peasants. Not at once, 
however, were these lands redeemed, as by an 
agreement between the interested parties the 
peasants were allowed to occupy their former 
holdings of the lands of their old masters by the 
payment of an annual rental, which land the gov- 
ernment apportioned to them, becoming inalien- 
able. 

The same arrangement was made respecting the 
peasants that belonged to the state and the crown, 
except that such peasants were not obliged, under 



REDEMPTION OF LANDS 35 

the proclamation, to begin the redemption of their 
lands until 1885, while for those peasants who were 
the property of private parties the date was fixed 
at 1 88 1. To carry into practical effect this obliga- 
tory redemption of lands, the government issued 
its bonds to the old land-owners to an amount es- 
timated on the rental value of the lands. This 
debt was to be liquidated by the peasants in the 
course of forty-nine years, by annual instalments 
of principal and interest. 

To facilitate this redemption measure, state 
peasant banks were founded, which loaned money 
to the peasants on easy terms, taking a mortgage 
on the lands as a security. It might be further 
stated that the lands were allotted to the males 
only, and without regard to age, and largely to 
the communes, which were at the same time given 
the amplest powers of local self-government. 

To aid in forming some just idea of the scope of 
this memorable act, and the stupendous changes 
wrought by it, I will briefly collate a few facts and 
figures that official statistics supply. For conveni- 
ence, I will divide the lands that passed under this 
proclamation into three classes or groups, viz. : 
those that comprise holdings from two to seven 
acres, those from seven to seventeen acres, and 
those from eighteen to over forty acres. 

We find that an allotment of lands from two to 



36 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

seven acres was made to 6,280,000 males, aggre- 
gating in the total 37,800,000 acres. Of this num- 
ber of peasants, 4,833,300 were formerly those 
belonging to private parties, and the remainder, 
1,447,000, those belonging to the crown and the 
state. Out of the total allotment of 37,800,000 
acres, 27,800,000 acres went to the peasants for- 
merly belonging to private parties, averaging about 
five and a half acres per male, while 10,000,000 
acres went to the former peasants of the crown 
and state, averaging nearly seven acres per male. 
For the second class — that is, allotments of seven 
to seventeen acres — there was granted 154,171,800 
acres, distributed among 12,400,000 males, or an 
average of 12.4 acres per capita. Of the total 
number of serfs who fell within this group under 
this class, 5,572,200 were those that belonged to 
private parties, and 6,830,000 that were owned 
by the crown and the state. To the former were 
allotted 64,320,200 acres, or nearly twelve acres 
per capita, and to the latter nearly 90,000,000 
acres, or a per capita holding of about thirteen 
acres. In the third class — from eighteen to over 
forty acres — we find there were 3,714,390 males, 
and an aggregate of 124,979,000 acres, or 33.4 per 
male. Of the total serf or private class in this 
group, 3,369,600 were owned by the state and the 
crown, to whom was alloted 115,979,000 acres, 



LAND ALLOTTED TO SERFS 37 

or an average of thirty-four acres to each male. 
The peasants that had been held by private 
parties in this class were 344,796, to whom were 
granted 8,666,000 acres, or nearly twenty-five 
acres as an average to each male. 

To summarize, we find that there was a male 
population of something over 22,000,000, to whom 
under the rescript of 1861 there were allotted 
316,200,000 acres, or an average of nearly fifteen 
acres for each. Of the grand total of serfs 
manumitted by that act, 10,800,000, or nearly 
one-half, were those of private owners. The other 
half, excepting the small number owned by the 
church and monasteries, was the property of the 
state and the crown. 

The lands, therefore, for the obligatory redemp- 
tion of which the government provided by the 
issuance of its bonds, amounted to a trifle over 
100,000,000 acres, or somewhat less than one- 
third of all the lands transferred by this act, being 
an average of a little less than ten acres per 
capita. There were, therefore, left of the state 
and crown lands about 215,000,000 acres, to be 
apportioned among something over 11,000,000 
holdings, or about twenty acres per capita. 

Very naturally, some notable results followed 
a change in condition so fundamental and at the 
same time so rapid, and it speaks well for the 



38 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

sterling qualities and character of this great 
class that a transformation so swift and radical 
carried with it so little confusion and disorder. 
The usual desire to accumulate speedily grew 
up among a people who hitherto were without 
property, when they found themselves suddenly 
endowed with such a substantial evidence of 
wealth as land. As a result, the peasantry of 
Russia, since the act of 1861, have added by 
purchase to their holdings acquired under that 
act, over 50,000,000 acres, so that they now hold 
some 370,000,000 acres, or, as before stated, 
over one-third of the arable acreage of European 
Russia. 

One of the direct results of this newly created 
and extensive ownership of lands is that the con- 
flict between capital and labor exists to a less 
degree in this country, perhaps, than in any other. 
As the land acquired by the peasant is as a rule 
not sufficient in itself to consume his whole labor 
or yield a full support to himself and family, he 
is therefore compelled to repair this deficiency 
by seeking service under the owner of a larger 
estate, in some factory or other occupation. 

Having become a land-owner himself, however, 
and therefore receiving in some degree a reward 
for his labor through his own capital, he thus 
stands in quite a different relation to one whose 



MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS OF PEASANTS 39 

employment he seeks, than the laborer who 
derives his reward for services wholly from the 
capital of another. This necessity on the part 
of the peasant to supplement the labor on his 
own insufficient tract of land by employment 
elsewhere, causes a movement among the rural 
classes which, if not rightly understood, might 
lead to a very erroneous impression. 

The almost incredible number of peasants that 
one meets on all lines of travel in this country 
at certain seasons of the year would seem to 
indicate that they were a very uneasy, shifting, 
and discontented class. But this is not true, since 
almost the entire migratory movements of this 
class arise out of a quest for employment else- 
where than on their own inadequate lot or tract 
of land, to which they invariably return with 
punctual regularity at certain times and seasons, 
as they are devoted to their little lot of land, 
and they allow nothing to separate them for long 
from it. Even when some poor peasant — as it 
often occurs — acquires wealth in some distant 
place as a merchant, or in other pursuits, and 
becomes the owner of buildings and other prop- 
erty in a city, he invariably retains his member- 
ship in the commune from whence he came, and 
he clinors to his little holdinor of land there ; for, as 
he says, his lot of land cannot be taken from 



40 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

him, and it would afford him and his children a 
living should he chance to lose his accumulated 
wealth. 

It is only when a peasant emigrates to some 
distant province that he permanently severs the 
bond that binds him to the little lot acquired 
under the emancipation act of t86i. Indeed, I 
was informed by those connected with the move- 
ment for the settlement of the new lands in 
Siberia and elsewhere, that the tenacity with 
which the peasant adheres to his tract of land 
was one of the obstacles in the way of emigration 
to the new and distant lands, and that it was no 
uncommon thing for a peasant to voluntarily 
abandon larger and better holdings in new coun- 
tries and return again to his little lot in the old 
commune. 

This firm attachment of so large a class to the 
lands of the country, and the fact that five-sixths 
of her population are engaged in the simple, invig- 
orating, and healthful pursuit of agriculture, con- 
ducing to a sound national vitality and energy, 
is a circumstance not to be lost sight of in 
considering what Russia's future is to be, in the 
possible clash of nations that may be precipitated 
some day by the pressure and necessities of a 
population existing under the highly artificial, 
intricate, and transitory conditions of an urban life. 



EMANCIPATION CARRIED INTO EFFECT 41 

It was on February 19, 1861, over two months 
prior to the outbreak of civil war in America, and 
nearly two years before our own great Lincoln 
issued his emancipation proclamation, that the 
memorable rescript of the Czar Alexander II. 
flashed through the long night of Russian serf- 
dom and upon the world, bringing immediate free- 
dom to an enslaved class almost one-half greater 
in number than the entire population of the whole 
United States at that time, both slave and free. 
By a wise and humane foresight, there were, also, 
provisions embodied in this very act to enable a 
hitherto dependent class to speedily become, in 
a measure, self-sustaining, and in other ways to 
assume the burdens, duties, and obligations created 
by their newly acquired rights and condition. 
Thus it was that we see a complete reversal of the 
old order of things, the serfs becoming the owners 
of the lands they occupied and for the use of 
which they served their masters, which lands, in 
turn, under this decree, the masters were com- 
pelled to apportion among their former serfs, 
creating thereby what is, perhaps, the largest 
single body of land-owners on the globe. 

When we consider that the serf system was the 
growth of centuries, and had become intimately in- 
terwoven in every fibre of the political, social, and 
economic institutions and traditions of Russia ; and. 



42 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

further, that the purposes contemplated by the act 
have been realized in the fullest measure, with- 
out drawing a sword or firing a gun, it deservedly 
stands as the most remarkable achievement in the 
interests of humanity ever accomplished by a ruler 
or a nation. 

Thirty-seven years later we find the head of this 
great nation, the grandson of the serf-freeing Czar, 
again startling the world by the issuance of another 
rescript, making for the peace and weal of the 
world in a no less remarkable manner. Let us 
hope that the success attending the benign efforts 
of his great predecessor will crown the efforts of 
the present ruler. With these examples before us, 
despite a prejudice that may exist against this 
people — the cause of which can only be suspected 
— one finds himself irresistibly impelled to seriously 
inquire what manner of nation, after all, this really 
is, that it should so far anticipate all others by 
voluntarily taking the initiative in measures calcu- 
lated to so profoundly effect and promote the free- 
dom, peace, and welfare of the human race. 



IV 



Stations and restaurants on Siberian railway — Equipment and safety 
of road — Syzran on the Volga River — The Tartar — Bridge on 
Siberian railway over the Volga River — The Volga, its size and 
importance as a highway — First view of the Ural Mountains — 
Their height, etc. — The city of Zlatoust — Government works 
and mines in the Ural Mountains — Summit of the Urals — En- 
trance into Siberia — Some facts concerning the Russian Empire 
— Eastern slope of the Ural Mountains — Crop conditions in the 
Volga valley — A look ahead. 

The Siberian railway, like all railways in Russia, 
is well constructed, the road-bed firm, track well 
ballasted, generally with stone, at least as far as 
Tscheljabinsk, and easy gradients. The road has a 
five-foot gauge, uniform with all the roads in Euro- 
pean Russia. This gives an ample breadth to the 
cars, which, with their unusual height, imparts an 
air of comfort not possessed by roads of narrower 
gauge and less height of ceiling in the car. The 
stations, without exception, are clean and hand- 
some, constructed often of wood, but frequently of 
brick or stone. It is a perfect delight to take a 
meal in the restaurants. They have a most agree- 
able custom of furnishing meals. On entering the 
dining-room, you will find at one end an immense ' 



44 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

sideboard literally groaning under a load of newly 
prepared Russian dishes, always piping hot, and of 
such a bewildering variety as to range through the 
whole gamut of human fancy and tastes. 

You are given a plate, with a knife and fork. 
Making your own selection, you retire to any of the 
neatly-spread tables to enjoy your meal at your 
leisure, and, I might add, with infinite zest, for 
travel in this country, besides pleasing the eye, 
quickens the palate. The price, too, is a surprise 
to one accustomed to metropolitan charges. You 
can get soup, as fine a beefsteak as you ever ate, 
a splendid roast chicken, whole, done in Russian 
style, most toothsome and juicy; potatoes and other 
vegetables, a bottle of beer, splendid and brewed 
in this country, for one ruble — about fifty cents. 

Safety seems to be the one idea uppermost in the 
minds of the railway ministry. Beside the electri- 
cal and other appliances used in the best railway 
practice, they have an immense army of guards 
both for the train and the track. The road is 
divided into sections of one verst each — about two- 
thirds of a mile. For each section there is built a 
neat little cottage in which the guard and his family 
live. It is the duty of this guard or one of his 
family to patrol a section night and day. As soon 
as a train passes, the guard steps into the middle of 
the track, holds a flag — at night a lantern — aloft and 



SAFETY OF RUSSIAN RAILWAYS 



45 



watches the retreating train until it passes into the 
next verst or section. Where there is a heavy 
curve that prevents the view of the road for the 
distance of a verst, several guards are employed 



RHi 


jjM 


^r-^^S.^^-^-'^ ,... :-^-^£ 


^^^^^^PBH 


liitfiii, -.:-'mmm 





SYZRAN ON THE VOLGA RIVER 



on a section. A train is, therefore, never out of 
sight of a guard. 

I might add that women often perform this ser- 
vice, which is quite apart from that of the section 
gang, whose duty is to repair the road. On the 



46 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

Siberian railway, as far as Tomsk, there are to be 
nearly 4,000 of these cottages for the use of the 
guards ; a very costly precaution, but one that 
gives a pleasing sense of security to the traveller. 
With the exception of the great post routes to 
Siberia, the Caucasus, and main highways in Eu- 
ropean Russia, which are first class and compare 
well with other countries, the common roads of 
Russia are indifferent, scarcely equal to those of 
our own country. 

On leaving Moscow, there are no towns worthy 
of being called cities excepting at long intervals, 
but farm villages are passed with rapid frequency, 
since of the immense farming class, as I have stated, 
none dwell on the farms they cultivate, but live 
wholly in villages or communes. The first town 
that is possessed of especial interest is Syzran, in 
the valley of the Volga. It is the centre of an im- 
mense grain trade, since it is surrounded by one of 
the best and richest cereal-growing regions in East 
Russia. There are celebrated tanneries there. 

Here, also, one discovers in feature and quaint 
costume the first traces of the true Tartar, which, 
at Samara, 100 miles on, develops into a distinct 
class and pronounced type. On looking at these 
tawny and grizzled representatives of a once power- 
ful race, the mind reverts to the mighty warriors 
that, from Attila down, swept like a blighting 



RAILWAY BRIDGE OVER THE VOLGA 49 

scourge over Asia and Europe, leaving a Tartar 
trail even on the steppes of Russia. 

At Batraki, another important grain port, and 




BATRAKI ON THE VOLGA 



celebrated for the fine quality of caviare, the rail- 
road crosses the Volga. The bridge here, owing 
to its immense size and the difficulties encountered 
in its construction, deserves well to be classed 
among the world's great structures of this kind. 
4 



50 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

It is only a little short of a mile in length, being 
built of fourteen sections, 360 feet span each. The 
bridge is 135 feet above the river at low water. 
There were consumed nearly 7,000 tons of iron in 
its building, and it was designed and executed by 
a Russian engineer. 

The Volga also well merits being ranked among 
the great rivers of the world. It is navigable for 
over 2,000 miles, and to within a few hundred miles 
of St. Petersburg, as it takes a semicircular sweep 
from the northwest towards Nijni Novgorod, and 
thence in a general southeastern direction to the 
Caspian Sea, which it enters at Astrakhan. A 
canal has been constructed from Ladoga Sea to 
Rybinsk, the head of the navigation of the Volga, 
so that vessels can go from the Baltic down the 
Volga to the Caspian Sea, thus cutting right 
through middle European Russia, bisecting it by 
a waterway of over 2,500 miles. 

The Volga, where we crossed it, very much re- 
sembles the Mississippi River, as well in size as in 
other points. To form some notion of the size and 
volume of water in this mighty river, I would say, at 
the point where the railroad crosses the river it is 
just a mile wide at low water. At times of high 
water it is from four to eight miles wide. The 
channel near the bridge at low water has a depth 
of twenty feet, and at high water of 100 feet. 




GREAT BRIDGE ACROSS THE VOLGA RIVER AT BATRAKI ON THE TRANS- 
SIBERIAN RAILWAY 



THE VOLGA RIVER 53 

The velocity of the current when the river is at 
its flood is said to be thirty feet per second, and in 
its low stage, fifteen or twenty feet per second. 

From Batraki to Wajsaowaja, a distance of 500 




RUSSIAN VILLAGE OX THE UFA RIVER 

miles, there are the same fertile treeless plains and 
prairies as from Moscow to the former place, 
a distance of 600 miles. At Wajsaowaja we 
encounter the foot-hills and eet our first view of 
the Ural Mountains. We here also meet the Ufa 



54 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



River, whose sinuous course the road follows until 
the summit of the mountains is reached. 

Those who from its great length — being over 
1,700 miles from north to south — have been led 




FIRST VIEW OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS AFTER PASSING WAJSAO- 
WAJA, TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY 



to expect an imposing range of mountains, will 
be doomed to disappointment. The height is 
only moderate, being a little over 6,000 feet at 
the highest, in this respect scarcely equal to the 



SUMMIT OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS 55 

Apennines. The summit is reached a little be- 
yond Zlatoust, at an elevation of 3,000 feet. It 
is an easy grade and requires no special effort to 
surmount. 

On reaching^ the summit, if one did not know it 




THE WESTERN SLOPE OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS ON THE TRANS-SIBERIAN 
RAILWAY, BETWEEN UFA AND ZLATOUST 

was the Ural Mountains, he might well believe he 
was on the railway summit of the Alleghanies near 
Altoona, so similar to it are the surroundings. 
Zlatoust, a large town, is most important in several 
particulars. It was until recently the " Botany 
Bay" of Russia. Here one occasionally sees 



56 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



prisoners chained in gangs destined to work in 
the mines or perhaps, doomed to the soHtude of 
farther Siberia. 

Zlatoust is In the centre of the Iron regions of 
Russia. A very fine quahty Is produced here In 




STATION AT ZLATOUST ON TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY NEAR THE SUMMIT 
OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS 



great quantities, and being free from both sulphur 
and phosphorus, it is consumed principally in mak- 
ing sheets and bars for those purposes where the 
highest quality Is required. 

The region to the northward, extending to Perm 
and Ekaterinburg, abounds in gold, copper, mala- 



MANUFACTURE OF FIREARMS 



57 



chite, lapis-lazuli, and other precious metals and 
minerals, all of which are being extensively mined 
and worked. At the former place, which is located 
on the Kama River, there are immense government 
works, employing over 2,000 men. It has one of 




MONUMENT ON SUMMIT OF URAL MOUNTAINS INDICATING DIVIDING 
LINE BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA 



the largest steam hammers in the world, and the 
foundry turns out steel cannon of unusual size and 
quality. They also manufacture firearms here, 
said to equal anything manufactured in Europe or 
America, and sidearms of unsurpassed excellence. 
It is from these localities in the Ural Mountains 



58 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



that what is known in America as " Russian iron" 
comes. 

In Zlatoust, also, there are great government 





EASTERN SLOPE OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS ON THE TRANS- SIBERLA.N 
RAILWAY, MIDWAY BETWEEN ZLATOUST AND TSCHELJABINSK 



works for the manufacture of steel cannon and 
other arms. Cutlery of various kinds is made 
in large quantities, and it is said the swords are of 
exceptional quality. There are also produced mar- 



ARTISTIC CASTINGS 59 

vellous castings from pig-iron. The statuettes cast 
out of this metal are marvels of artistic beauty and 
technical skill. Their quality, it is said, is due 
largely to the superior moulding sand produced in 
this region, but I am of the impression that it is 




EASTERN SLOPE OF URAL MOUNTAINS ON TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY, 
EIGHTY MILES FROM THE SUMMIT OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS 

more properly attributable to the rare qualities of 
the iron, which seems to flow with unusual fluidity, 
producing castings so delicate in detail as to be 
scarcely distinguishable from bronze. These art 
products are rapidly finding their way into Euro- 
pean markets. 



6o SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

The town is located on a pretty little lake nestled 
most picturesquely among the hills, almost on the 
summit of the range. 

Shortly after leaving Zlatoust we pass a large 




ON TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY JUST BEFORE ARRIVING AT TSCHELJABINSK 

Stone monument erected at some distance from the 
railway. On one side is, in Russian, the word 
'' Europe," and on the opposite side ''Asia." It 
marks the boundary between Europe and Asia. 
One, however, does not need a monumental token 



IN SIBERIA 6 1 

to learn that he is passing from one great geo- 
graphical division to another, for the sparse pop- 
ulation, uncultivated lands, and general wild aspect 
only too clearly indicate that he has suddenly en- 
tered Siberia. 

Here a few facts may aid the imagination. The 
Russian Empire contains a little over one-seventh 
of the land surface of the entire globe, and about 
one-twenty-fifth of its whole surface. European 
Russia, with Poland and Finland included, has two 
million square miles, with over one hundred mil- 
lions of people. The Central Asian provinces, 
with the Caucasus, Merv, and Kars, has 1,500,000 
square miles, and 14,000,000 people. Siberia con- 
tains nearly 5,000,000 square miles and a popula- 
tion of only 4,000,000. When we reflect that its 
area is nearly three times that of Europe, which 
has over 200,000,000 people, it is a matter of no 
great surprise that one quickly detects his advent 
into this empty country. 

The eastern slope of the Ural Mountains is, for 
a space, more abrupt than the western, but it soon 
enters upon a gentle slope that continues until it 
touches the western edge of that great level plain 
v^rhich seems to stretch indefinitely to the east. On 
leaving the summit we join the Isset, a small river, 
whose course we closely follow until it deflects to 
the northeast, becoming a tributary to the Irtish, 



62 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

itself one of the main branches of the o-reat Obi 
River. Fifty miles farther on in the plains we come 
to Tscheljabinsk, where ends the first section of 
this great railway. 

It may not be amiss to give the results of my 




RAILWAY STATION AT TSCHELJABINSK, THE END OF THE FIRST SECTION 
OF TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY, AT 'THE EASTERN FOOT OF URAL 
MOUNTAINS 



observations respecting this year's crop conditions 
in the country through which I have passed, con- 
stituting as it does the finest cereal region in all 
European Russia. From a deficiency in rainfall, 
extending continuously over a period of almost four 



CROPS OF RUSSIA 63 

months, an alarming shortage of all crops, even 
grass, is certain to exist throughout an immense 
area, reaching through several hundred miles east 
and west, and perhaps five hundred miles north and 




ENTERING THE PLAINS OR STEPPES OF SIBERIA ON THE TRANS-SIBERIAN 
RAIL^VAY, ONE HUNDRED MILES EAST OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS 

south — an area about equally bisected by the Volga 
River and the railway line throughout this vast 
tract. This includes five of the larorest and aeri- 
culturally the most important governments of Rus- 
sia, containing from ten to twelve million people, 
and it is almost certain that enough cannot be raised 



64 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



this year to meet the wants of more than one-fourth 
of its population. 

The government of Samara (said to be twice as 
large as Belgium) lies in the centre of the stricken 




CROSSING THE SIBERIAN STEPPES, TWO HUNDRED MILES EAST OF THE 
URAL MOUNTAINS, ON THE SIBERIAN RAILWAY 



region, and here already much distress has devel- 
oped. I learn, on passing through, that the Czar 
has just given 500,000 rubles for the relief of the 
sufferers. The region over which the drought ex- 
tends is the finest wheat region in Eastern Russia, 



SELF-SUSTAINING POWER OF RUSSIA 67 

and in ordinary seasons supplies a large surplus for 
export to foreign countries. I was informed by 
a Russian official connected with the ministry of 
railways, that they would probably have to bring 
into this region where the shortage has occurred, 
from other sections of Russia, from fifty to eighty 
million bushels of grain, to supply the necessary 
food to the inhabitants and seed to the farmers. The 
self-sustaining power of this great empire is fully 
made manifest by the fact that while so serious a 
shortage has occurred in one great section, in many 
others, such as the Crimea, the Caucasus, and the 
newly settled lands in Siberia, abundant and even 
excessive crops are reported, so that not only can 
the deficit be fully supplied from her own home re- 
sources, but there will be left over a fair surplus 
for export. 

The foregoing, however, only tends to bring into 
stronger relief the fact that year by year the once 
wide margin between supply and demand in the 
food products of the world is gradually being nar- 
rowed, and suggests some uncomfortable reflections 
as to what might result if, instead of many years of 
yield much above the average, as it has been during 
the past ten years, the world should be called upon 
to meet years of average production — quite as prob- 
able a contingency — to say nothing of the pos- 
sibility of years of continuous deficiency. 



68 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



As my objective point lies somewhat over 2,000 
miles east of this, and less than 200 miles from the 
northern China border, and as it has to be per- 
formed by taking slow and uncertain railway trains, 




VIEW ACROSS SIBERIAN STEPPES, THREE HUNDRED MILES EAST OF THE 
URAL MOUNTAINS 

not to say exhausting troikas, you can form some 
notion of the wearisome journey I have in -pros- 
pect. I have long since learned, liowever, that 
nothing well worth can be achieved without cor- 



THE KIRGHIZ TARTARS 



69 



responding outlay of energy. As the Macedonian 
pikeman said in answer to an inquiry why he was 
content to follow the Grecian commander on his 
fatiguing conquests, " If you take no pains, you 
get no gains." 

I shall probably write you from Tomsk, about 




GROUP OF KIRGHIZ TARTARS AT STATION ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY 

twelve hundred miles east of this. It may be 
several days, however, as I shall probably tarry 
some on the way. The railway line runs over 
1,200 miles right through the domain of the Kir- 
ghiz, the most interesting of all the Tartars, and 
a most important character to study. I am in- 



70 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

formed that they are yet the same untamed 
nomads that, under Mondzuk and his succes- 
sors, as a mongrel Tartar and Mongol horde, 
swept with such destructive fury nearly i,6oo 
years ago through the length and breadth of Eu- 
rope, holding even Rome in terror for several 
centuries. 




ON SIBERIAN STEPPES, THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY .MILES EAST OF 
URAL MOUNTAINS 




ON SIBERIAN STEPPES, EIGHT HUNDRED MILES EAST OF URAL 
MOUNTAINS 



V 



The Asiatic continent — A glance at Siberia, its geography, physical 
characteristics, etc. — The great rivers of Siberia — Erroneous im- 
pression of Siberia — Vast area of level land — No difficulty in 
construction of railway — Similarity of Western Siberia to a great 
portion of the United States — The error of Americans respecting 
trans-Missouri River country — The route of the Siberian rail- 
w^ay — Its construction and equipment — Stations on railway in 
Siberia — Track, bridges, etc. — Accumulated grain on the route 
from Kurgan to Tomsk — The necessity for increased facilities 
on Siberian railway — Flora and fauna of Siberia — Agricultural 
resources of Siberia — Possibilities of the country. 

Tomsk, August, 1898. 

Magnitudes and distances are pitched to such 
a huge scale on this mammoth Asiatic continent 
that one must needs fortify himself by constant 
reference to maps and charts in order to maintain 
his bearings, and even to know his whereabouts. 
If you will refer to your map, you will see that 
this is north of Burmah and quite on the longi- 
tude of Calcutta, and is nearly 1,800 miles east of 
the Caspian Sea and well at the middle of the 
northern border of the great Chinese Empire, from 
which it is distant onl}^ about 400 miles. 

To aid in forming an intelligible understanding 



74 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

of the country through which I have passed, and 
of the railway that traverses it, a brief glance at 
the main geographic and physical characteristics 



VIEW ACROSS THE IRTISH RIVER, SIBERIA 

of Siberia may, I believe, properly be made. Our 
maps show us that Siberia is a vast country of 
nearly 5,000,000 square miles area, extending, 
from the northern confines of China and Turkestan 
to the Arctic Sea, through over thirty degrees of 



RIVERS OF SIBERIA 



11 



latitude, and, from the Ural Mountains in the west 
to the Pacific Ocean in the east, through about 130 
degrees of longitude. Truly, this is a country of 
'* magnificent distances." 

In substantially parallel courses there are many 




VIEW ACROSS THE ISHIM RIVER, SIBERIA 

mighty rivers flowing through the entire breadth 
of Siberia into the Northern Sea. The chief ones 
are the Obi, the Yenisei, and the Lena. The 
main stems of these rivers usually extend south- 
ward 1,000 or 1,200 miles, when by numerous 
radiating tributaries they spread fan-like through 
an immense area of country, finally finding their 



78 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



source in the great, high plateaus of Central Asia. 
The railway line, therefore, in its western half 




ON THE TOM RIVER, SIBERI^ 



passes through the upper reaches of the Obi and 
the Yenisei rivers. 

Somehow I had formed the idea that Siberia 
was, in the main, a mountainous, broken, barren, 
and even sterile country, covered with forests — 
which opinion, I am inclined to think, is some- 



MISTAKES ABOUT SIBERIA 8i 

what generally entertained in the west. Nothing 
could be farther from the fact. Of all the sur- 




ON SIBERIAN STEPPES OR PRAIRIES, FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILES 
EAST OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS 

prises met with in my somewhat extensive travels, 
Siberia is the greatest. 

As a whole, it contains perhaps the largest 
continuous area of level lands on the s^lobe. Ex- 
cepting spurs of the great Altai range of moun- 



82 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

tains fringing its southern border, and which cut 
occasionally to some distance northward into 
Siberia, the entire western half of the country is 
exceptionally level, almost to flatness. Near Lake 
Baikal, in the foot-hills of the Altais, the moun- 




ON SIBERIAN STEPPES, BETWEEN KURGAN AND PETROPAVLOVSK 

tains rise to a height of not over 6,000 feet ; and it 
is only when going 100 miles farther, to the very 
China border, that anything like a great altitude 
is reached. 

The railway, therefore, having no great moun- 
tain ranges to cross, and throughout almost its 





TWO VIEWS ACROSS SIBERIAN STEPPES 



ENGINEERING ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY 85 

entire length being built through a practically 
level country, presents no example of more than 
ordinary engineering achievement ; in fact, it will 
be no more difficult to construct it clear through 
to the Pacific Ocean than it was to build the 
Union Pacific from Omaha to Salt Lake City. 

If a great section of country of the United States 
and British America be taken, extending from the 
Gulf of Mexico through thirty degrees of latitude 
northward, and 2,000 miles eastward from the 
Rocky Mountains, it would fairly represent an 
area of country similar in physical characteristics 
to that portion of Siberia which we are considering. 
Indeed, the resemblance is not in extent only, for 
in their geological formation they are quite identi- 
cal — the one being formed by the wash in primeval 
times from the eastern escarpment of the Rocky 
Mountains, and the other from the northern face 
of the great Central Asian mountains in the south 
and that of the Urals in the west. The alluvial 
character of the soil in both places goes far to bear 
out this identity of origin. 

This general similarity, I am sure, will hold for 
the western half of Siberia and that region in the 
United States lying between the Rocky and Alle- 
ghany mountains. It would not be far from the 
fact to say that for 2,000 miles east of the Ural 
Mountains, and extending to the Arctic Sea, 



86 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Siberia is almost as level as the ocean. In over 
i,ooo miles I do not believe the grade of the 
railroad varied 300 feet, and in many places it was 
as straight as an arrow, without the slightest 




VIEW ACROSS SIBERIAN STEPPES, FIVE HUNDRED MILES EAST OF THE 
URAL MOUNTAINS 

curve for forty or fifty miles. Indeed, there was 
one stretch of perfectly straight road for 116 
versts, or nearly eighty miles. 

It is somewhat difficult to obtain specific infor- 



AMERICAN AND RUSSIAN GEOGRAPHERS 87 

mation of the geography and geology of this re- 
gion or even of the real nature of the soil. The 
Russians, even of the intellisrent and often of the 
official class, possess generally only a superficial 
knowledge of the great country they have so 
suddenly brought to the eyes of the world. 

In this respect they much resemble the eastern 
residents of our own country, whose geographers 
and scientists fifty years ago regarded the trans- 
Mississippi River region as a terra incognita, and 
insisted on recording in the maps of those days 
as the "Great American Desert" the whole region 
west of the Missouri River, now the most fertile 
and fruitful country in the whole United States. 

For the real nature of the soil, its capacity, etc., 
I rely much on careful observation and such in- 
formation as I can extract from the Kirghiz, who 
come to the railway from hundreds of miles both 
north and south. The Russian government is 
making rapid and extensive surveys, and I doubt 
not at no distant day will supply the world with 
much specific knowledge of this hitherto almost 
unknown land. 

The railway on leaving Tscheljabinsk takes an 
almost due easterly course, which it varies by a 
few points only until beyond the Yenisei River, 
a distance of about 2,000 miles, when it deflects to 
the southeast for nearly 800 miles, until it reaches 



88 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

Lake Baikal, only a short distance from the China 
border. It follows somewhat closely the old 
post route from Moscow to Irkutsk, running via 
Zlatoust, where at Tomsk it joins the more 
northern post route down the Tobol and Irtish 




KIRGHIZ TARTARS AND CAMEL TRAIN ON SIBERIAN STEPPES 

rivers to Tiumen, and thence over the Ural Moun- 
tains to Perm and Nijni Novgorod to Moscow. 
Curiously enough, the railway follows much the 
same course as that by which in ancient times 
the Huns, Tartars, and Moguls made through 
Southern Russia their numerous and dreaded 
incursions into Europe. 



EQUIPMENT EQUAL TO UNION PACIFIC 91 

A sufficiently accurate general description of 
the Siberian railroad and its various appointments 
would, I think, be covered by the statement that 




RAILWAY STATION ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY, EIGHT HUNDRED MILES EAST OF 
URAL MOUNTAINS, OR OVER TWO THOUSAND MILES EAST OF MOSCOW 

it is fully equal to either the Union or Northern 
Pacific Railway, although the oldest portion east 
of Tscheljabinsk has been in operation scarcely two 
years, and the newer portions a few months only. 



92 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



The track is well laid, the grading firm and 
thorough, and the bridges almost wholly of iron, 
save a few of the original and temporary ones, 
which are rapidly being replaced by those of 




STATION ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY 



Stone and iron. Those over the Irtish, Ishim, 
Obi, Tobol, Omsk, and Tom rivers I found to 
be well constructed, of the best material and most 
approved modern pattern. 

The stations, always artistic and picturesque, 



STATIONS ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY 93 

and never of the same style, are neat, comfortable, 
of good size, and substantial, fully equal to the 
average depot on the New York Central or Penn- 




SACKED GRAIN AWAITING SHIPMENT AT THE STATION ON SIBERIAN 
RAILWAY BETWEEN OMSK AND TOMSK, OVER ONE THOUSAND MILES 
EAST OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS 

sylvania. I noticed that recent surveys have been 
made along the line, and on inquiry was informed 
that they are preparing to build one or more 
additional tracks. This is a very timely provis- 



94 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



ion, as the road is already taxed far beyond its 
capacity. 

All along the line I saw piles of grain and other 




PASSENGER TRAIN FOR ORDINARY SERVICE ON TRANS-SIBERIAN RAIL- 
WAY, MAKING DAILY TRIPS TO TOMSK, NEARLY THREE THOUSAND 
MILES EAST OF MOSCOW 



kinds of freight awaiting shipment. One of the 
officials of the road informed me that there were 
over 8,000,000 bushels of wheat lying at the 
depots between Kurgan and Tomsk, which could 



EMIGRANT TRAINS 



95 



not be carried. The road is crowded with emi- 
grant trains eastward, and this, with the develop- 
ment of the country on the line and the carrying 
of the material for thousands of miles of road yet 




VIEW ON THE SIBERIAN STEPPES, BETWEEN THE TOBOL AND ISHIM RIVERS. 
EMIGRANT TRAIN CROSSING THE STEPPES TO OCCUPY NEW LANDS 



to be built beyond, has naturally enough brought 
about a serious block in traffic. 

To those familiar with the rapid growth and de- 
velopment of the trans-Missouri River region and 



96 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



the traffic necessities it created, it is apparent that 
in a few years this great highway will have to 
increase its present facilities several times over. 




ON THE OPEN STEPPES OF SIBERIA, ABOUT ONE THOUSAND MILES EAST 
OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS, OR NEARLY TWO THOUSAND FOUR HUN- 
DRED MILES EAST OF MOSCOW 

In addition to the trade and travel that must result 
from binding commercially and socially together 
500,000,000 people in the Far East and 300,000,- 
000 in the West, there will be that clue to the devel- 



FLORA AND FAUNA OF SIBERIA 



97 



opment of an intermediate country, in combined 
fertility and extent far surpassing anything yet 
undeveloped on the globe. 

To describe in full and satisfactory detail the 
flora, fauna, fertility of soil, and the various re- 





VIEW ACROSS SIBERIAN PRAIRIES 



sources of this wonderful country would transcend 
the limits of time and space of a letter. It would 
require volumes to do this. I will, therefore, have 
to confine myself to generalities merely. I have 
already said that there lies in Western Siberia, 
from the Ural Mountains eastward, an unbroken 
tract of practically level land, about 800 miles wide 



98 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

and nearly 2,000 miles long ; that is to say, an 
area equal to two-thirds of the United States, 
excepting Alaska. 

When I add that for the most part it is like or 




DISTANT HERD OF CATTLE ON SIBERIAN PLAINS OR STEPPES 

even superior to the fertile, treeless, level prairies 
of our own great West ; that it extends over 
thirty degrees of latitude, from the genial climate 
of Central Asia to the frigid north ; that through- 



THE FUTURE OF SIBERIA 



99 



out this vast region is to be found the finest pas- 
turage in the world ; that in many parts wheat and 
other cereals can be grown equal to the Dakotas 
or Minnesota, and even Indian corn over a large 




EMIGRANTS AT RAILWAY STATION BETWEEN KAINSK AND TOMSK ON THE 
TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY 



region in the south — some feeble conception can be 
formed of the tremendous latent agricultural re- 
sources of this country. 

This fact is emphasized by the further state- 
ment that it is inhabited by only a comparatively 
small population of Tartars and other nomadic 



loo SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

tribes. The cities being few and small, the fixed 
population is relatively insignificant. 

For the whole of Siberia there is less than one 
person to the square mile. If it be further added, 
that this country lies practically between the same 
degrees of latitude as European Russia; that it has 
an area much greater and an average fertility of 
soil even superior in many places ; and that the lat- 
ter country already supports over 100,000,000 of 
people, with a liberal surplus, some notion may be 
formed of the teeming millions that are yet to 
people this waste land, when it is made avail- 
able by an adequate railway system and other 
means of intercommunication and transportation, 
which, under the newly awakened spirit of Russian 
enterprise, seems destined to be accomplished in 
due time. Indeed, a most comprehensive system 
has already crystallized into something of a con- 
crete form. 



VI 



Ultimate Siberian railway system — Proposed line from Central Si- 
beria to Persian Gulf — New relations between Russia and China, 
arising from the Siberian railway — Change from the route as 
originally projected — New route to Vladivostok — Rapid settle- 
ment of country on Siberian railway — Quick growth of towns 
on the line — Development of lands to follow railway extension — 
Grazing lands on Siberian railway — Small lakes through 
Siberia — Timber in Western Siberia. 

I WAS fortunate enough to form the acquaintance 
of one of the engineers of the Siberian railway, a 
most courteous gentleman, who gave me not only 
many details concerning the great line, but also 
a brief outline of the proposed ultimate Siberian 
system. In addition to the contemplated line run- 
ning northward to Tobolsk and several toward the 
China border, they design running one in a south- 
western direction toward Samarkand, crossing the 
trans-Caspian road, now completed to the western 
border of China, and thence southward through 
Persia, with its ultimate destination on the Per- 
sian Gulf. 

The recent entente with China has caused a 
radical change in the plan of the eastern section 



104 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

of the Siberian railway, as originally projected. 
Instead of making the long detour via the Amoor 
River to Vladivostok, necessitated by passing 




VIEW ACROSS THE SIBERIAN STEPPES, NINE HUNDRED MILES EAST OF 
THE URAL MOUNTAINS, OR ABOUT TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED 
MILES EAST OF MOSCOW 

around Manchuria, they are now permitted, under 
the new treaty with China, to construct a line 
running through that province direct to Vladi- 
vostok. 



RAILWAY IN MANCHURIA 105 

They have, therefore, stopped work for the 
present on the eastern section of the line, and 
are bending all their energies to build, in the 




RECENT SETTLEMENT ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY, ONE THOUSAND ONE HUN- 
DRED MILES EAST OF URAL MOUNTAINS 

shortest possible time, a line through Manchuria 
to their newly acquired open port on the China 
Sea, at Port Arthur. This line will leave the 
main one at Chiti, about 800 miles east of Lake 



io6 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

Baikal, following almost a due east course to 
Vladivostok. 

A line will branch off at Kirin and run due 
south to Port Arthur. This will create a system 
that will make Russian influence practically para- 
mount in Manchuria. 

A prominent Russian gentleman, residing at 
Vladivostok, who was on the train on his way 
over the proposed route, spoke very freely of the 
intentions of his government in that quarter, 
substantially confirming the plans given me by 
the engineer of the line. Under this newly re- 
vised scheme, the route to Vladivostok will be 
shortened many hundreds of miles from that 
originally projected. 

All along the route of the Siberian railway 
are to be found those examples of quick settle- 
ment of country and sudden growth of towns 
so familiar in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska in the 
early days of the extension of railways through 
those States. Every few miles a station is located 
on the open plains or prairies, around which there 
quickly clusters a thriving village. Fields of 
newly cultivated lands, many covered with a 
golden harvest, can be seen for miles at all these 
stations. There are some instances of rapid 
growth not surpassed in our own great West. 

After crossing the Obi River, we stopped at a 




< ^ 



NEW TOWNS ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY 109 

town called Obb, of over 14,000 Inhabitants, con- 
taining many handsome buildings and several 
beautiful church edifices. It was a flourishing 




NEW SETTLEMENT ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY, TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED 
MILES EAST OF MOSCOW, BETWEEN OBB AND TOMSK 

community and the seat of an active trade. I was 
told that less than three years ago there was not a 
house existing where the town now stands, and, 
Indeed, that the whole country around was one of 
wild solitude and desolation. 



no 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



With these accomplished results before us, it is 
easy to see what a magical transformation must 
take place in this great country under the influence 
of an extended railway system. It is all the more 




NEW SETTLEMENT ON TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY, ONE THOUSAND ONE 
HUNDRED MILES EAST OF THE URALS, AND BETWEEN KRIWOSTCHE- 
KOWO AND KAINSK. 



easily imagined by one who has already seen in his 
own country an object lesson of a similar character. 
I doubt if the Russians fully realize to what an ex- 
tent their great enterprise is going to modify their 
economic and, perhaps, social conditions. 



FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF COUNTRY 113 

For reasons I will hereafter give, this great re- 
gion is not likely to be settled and developed with 
that rapidity which marked our lightning-like 




NEW SETTLEMENT ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY, ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED 
AND FIFTY MILES EAST OF THE URALS, OR ABOUT TWO THOUSAND 
FIVE HUNDRED MILES EAST OF MOSCOW 

advance in the West ; still it will be fast enough 
to make a decided change in the commercial and 
economic interests of old or European Russia, 
unsettling for a time to some extent — as it did in 



114 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



our country — the almost fixed equilibrium so long 
existing there. 

If a section, of say, fifty miles, in the richest por- 
tion of the Platte valley in Nebraska be carved 




STATION ON THE OPEN STEPPES OF SIBERIA, ON THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAIL- 
WAY, OVER ONE THOUSAND MILES EAST OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS AND 
ABOUT TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED MILES EAST OF MOSCOW 



out as a sample, there would be a strict resemblance 
between this and the country on the line of the 
Siberian railway, through the whole distance from 
the Ural Mountains to the Yenisei River, nearly 
1, 800 miles. Throughout this great distance, ex- 



TIMBER ON RAILWAY LINE 



115 



cepting a portion between the Obi and Yenisei, 
there is no timber save a species of small birch 
closely resembling the cottonwood of the Missouri 




ON THE SIBERIAN STEPPES OR PRAIRIES, OVER ONE THOUSAND MILES EAST 
OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS, AND ABOUT TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED 
MILES EAST OF MOSCOW 



valley. Being scattered at wide intervals in small 
clumps throughout this vast country, it greatly 
heightens the similarity. 



ii6 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



I have already said the line is almost level and 
straight as an arrow from the Obi to the Ural 
Mountains. I do not believe, for that space, the 




&■ 




ON THE SIBERIAN STEPPES, BETWEEN THE ISHIM AND IRTISH RIVERS, ON 
THE LINE OF THE SIBERIAN RAILWAY 



line varied 300 feet from a true level. Along the 
whole line there is the most luxuriant growth of 
grass I have seen in any country. There are 
many varieties — some like the native blue stem 
of the West, and one variety that in appearance 



WONDERFUL GRAZING LANDS 



117 



seemed closely allied to the Kentucky blue grass. 
Judging from the superb condition of the animals 
that graze upon them, they must all be of the most 




RECENT SETTLEMENT ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY, BETWEEN THE OBI AND TOM 
RIVERS, ABOUT TWO THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED MILES EAST OF 
MOSCOW 



nutritious nature ; it is, therefore, not only one of 
the finest, but by far the largest grazing regions in 
the world. If fully utilized, I believe Siberia could 
furnish the beef supply for the world. The soil 



ii8 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



seems similar to that of Eastern Nebraska and 
Kansas ; in fact it is, in great part, identical with 
the Tschernozium formation in European Russia, 
an eastward extension of which it seems to be. 




LAKE ON THE SIBERIAN STEPPES 



The country for 600 miles was literally dotted 
with beautiful lakes of clear, pure water of one-half 
to two miles in diameter, the habitat, in the season, 
of myriads of ducks, geese, and other wild fowl. 
These lakes, as also the rivers, abound in fish of 
good quality and many varieties. The country is. 



GAME ON SIBERIAN STEPPES 



121 



therefore, well watered and well drained. I saw 
scarcely any traces of alkali in the soil. There 
are many grouse and partridge in the steppes, but 
no deer of any kind; accountable, no doubt, to the 




CHAPEL IN RECENTLY SETTLED TOWN ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY 



long occupancy of the country by the Tartars, who 
convert it into a sort of semi-domestic domain. 

As the railway management have for the moment 
made a liberal allotment of time in which the occa- 
sional passenger trains are to make the trip, fre- 
quent stops are made. At some of the larger 
towns the delay may be from two to five hours. I 



122 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

have availed myself of the opportunity thus given 
to acquire a knowledge of the country at some dis- 
tance from the line, by jumping into a drosky and 
driving straight away from the road. At the 
breakneck speed they habitually drive, I have been 
enabled frequently to cover a distance from ten to 
twenty miles from the station. 

After passing the Obi River the land, as far as 
the Yenisei, becomes more rolling and has a thicker 
growth of trees, the fir being present to some ex- 
tent, with the birch. This region is almost exactly 
like Eastern Nebraska and the State of Iowa — the 
same rolling lands and deep, black soil. If pos- 
sible, this is even better wheat land than the more 
level lands west of the Obi. From the Yenisei 
for about 600 miles, I am told that much the same 
country exists, until the mountain range near Lake 
Baikal is reached, running as a spur from the Altais 
in Northern China. 



t 



VII 



Kurgan on the Tobol River — The Kirghiz Tartars — Their tents, vil- 
lages, mode of life, etc. — The future of Kurgan — Winters in 
Siberia — No blizzards in Western Siberia — Rainfall — Petropav- 
lovsk on the Ishim River — Rapid change in country on railway 
line — Emigrant trains eastward — Growth of grains on the line 
of railway — Surplus awaiting shipment — Omsk on the Irtish and 
Om rivers — Interesting character — Tomsk on the Tom River — 
The prison in Tomsk — Flourishing college — Electric lights, 
telephone system, and other conveniences — Condition of railroad 
east of Tomsk — Various excursions from Tomsk into the 
country. 

The first town of Importance after leaving 
Tscheljablnsk Is Kurgan, once the seat of the Tar- 
tar government before Its conquest by the Musco- 
vite. It Is situated on the Tobol River, which, 
after flowing 500 miles north, joins the Irtish at 
Tobolsk. Kurgan lies In the midst of what, In 
virtue of Its extent, richness of soil, and exuberant 
pasturage, Is perhaps the largest and best tract 
of grazing land on the globe. The town owes Its 
Importance to the large cattle trade that centres 
here from the Kirghiz steppes In all directions. 
It was a town of no Inconsiderable Importance 
before the railroad was constructed. 






124 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Here one sees the Kirghiz in his natural state, 
but little modified by modern civilization. They 
are a splendid race, having strong features and 
a dignified bearing, and are accredited with many 
virtues. It is said they are unusually cleanly 




STATION AT KURGAN, SIBERIAN RAILWAY 

and of notable fidelity and hospitality, especially 
where strangers are concerned. Being a purely 
pastoral people, they disdain the tillage of the soil, 
living almost wholly on the production of their 
herds. The life of the Tartar is a simple and 
monotonous one, and withal frugal. Their diet 
consists almost wholly of meats and cheese. 










< < 
vj > 



z c 

- O 

c4 W 



TARTAR YURTS OR TENTS 



127 



They have a pecuHar drink called ayran, made 
of boiled milk diluted with water, and then 
allowed to stand until it slightly ferments and 
turns sour. It forms an excellent and most 
refreshing summer drink. Their various products 




KIRGHIZ YURT OR TENT AND GROUP OF TARTARS ON THE SIBERIAN STEPPES, 
BETWEEN KURGAN AND PETROPAVLOVSK 



of the dairy are kept in goat-skins. Their cloth- 
ing and bedding they make themselves, and 
mostly from the felt and wool of the sheep and 
goat. The curious tents in which these people 
live, called yurts, and that are scattered in villages 
— called in Tartar, aul — throughout the wide 



4 

128 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

steppes, are well known. They are made of a 
coarse felt, fully an inch thick, composed of the 
coarser varieties of sheep and goat's wool. The 
tents are round, with a dome-shaped cover, in the 
apex of which is a small aperture through which 
the smoke escapes from the fire built on the 
ground in the centre of the tent. 

It is impossible, from the want of reliable statis- 
tics, to determine with any degree of accuracy the 
number of these people, who once swarmed in 
such multitudes, necessitating those periodic over- 
flows the mere menace of which terrified even re- 
mote nations. But as they are scattered through- 
out an area of beautiful and fertile country 
two-thirds as large as the United States, they 
must yet number many hundreds of thousands. 
Their herds are mainly composed of cattle and 
sheep, although they have many fine horses and 
an occasional flock of goats. The quality of meat 
grown on these steppes is unsurpassed, I might 
almost say unequalled, as nothing can exceed the 
quality of the beef, mutton, and veal that are 
served at the railway stations on the line running 
through this region. 

Kurgan is certainly cast for a large city, when 
once the great country tributary to it is utilized to 
anything like its full capabilities. Although you 
see everywhere immense herds of animals, and 



WINTERS IN SIBERIA 



131 



although the country is checkered with newly 
ploughed fields, still it is apparent that its ulti- 
mate grazing and cereal resources have as yet 
been scarcely more than tested. 




CHURCH IN NEW SIBERIAN VILLAGE 



Although the winters are very cold, they are 
not especially long or trying. While the extreme 
temperature during winter may reach a point ten 
to fifteen degrees lower than in Ohio, or generally 



132 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

in latitude forty in the United States, still, as the 
air is very dry and there are no high winds, I 
have no doubt the winter season can be passed 
w^ithout especial discomfort. When winter sets in, 
which it does suddenly, and usually about the first 
of November, it continues steadily through about 
five months, when there is as sudden a breakup, 
ushering in permanently pleasant warm weather. 

There are no mid-winter tha?^vs, as in the United 
States, with their extremes of summer heat and 
polar chills, but the weather remains continuously 
cold, and the snow lies unbroken on the ground 
until the spring thaw. Nor is the snowfall exces- 
sive. By those who have the experience, I am 
informed that the winters are far more agreeable 
than in other countries, where the temperature is 
higher and more violent changes occur. 

There is one climatic feature here that gives this 
country a marked advantage over our own great 
West, where a higher temperature prevails, and that 
is the entire absence of those blizzards which are 
the terror of our Western stockmen. I cannot re- 
member having seen on the entire line of the 
Siberian railway more than one or two places where 
barriers were provided to protect the track from 
drifting snow. I am, indeed, told that the Tartars 
give their herds neither food nor protection in the 
winter, leaving them to take care of themselves, 



RAINFALL AND ITS CAUSES 135 

which it is said they readily do by scratching away 
the snow that covers the tall, thick growth of grass 
beneath. The rainfall in summer is seasonable 




ON THE POST-ROUTE FROM PETROPAVLOVSK TO OMSK 

and abundant. I have been unable to make out 
to my own satisfaction where the rain comes from. 
As in America, it invariably rains here when the 
rain-bearing clouds come from the south and west, 
and clears away with a north or northwest wind. 



136 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

It is easy to understand why, in America, a south 
wind brings rain. As the current of air saturated 
with moisture from the Gulf and warm equatorial 
waters in the south comes in contact with the 
colder air of higher latitudes, it naturally deposits 
it in the form of rain. But as a south wind here 
comes from the high, cold plateau region of Central 
Asia, where the air is dry and evaporation meagre, 
it is not easy to see why a southern current of air 
under these conditions should deposit rain. 

Petropavlovsk is the next town of importance 
reached. It is on the I shim River, a tributary of 
the Obi, and it contains about 20,000 inhabitants. 
It was once the frontier fortress used by Russia 
against the Kirghiz. It owes its existence to an 
important trade with Samarkand and Central Asia, 
great trains of camels coming from those places. 
Like all the old towns on this route, new buildings 
and other evidences of rapid development attest 
the vivifying influence of the railroad. 

From Petropavlovsk to Omsk, a distance of 
about 400 miles, there is the same monotonous 
repetition of level, fertile plains, flowery fields, 
budding villages, and newly cultivated lands. It 
is evident that the Russian policy of settling this 
country, which I will give you later on, is produc- 
ing marked changes, especially in those parts ren- 
dered accessible by the railroad. For miles on 



IMMIGRANTS INTO SIBERIA 



139 



each side of the line, as far as the Yenisei River, 
the lands are being taken, and in many places 
heavy crops are being raised. Long trains crowded 
with emigrants on their way eastward are frequently 




STREET SCENE IN OxMSK 



passed. Of wheat and oats they have already pro- 
duced a large surplus. All along the route, as far 
as Tomsk, one will see at the stations great piles 
of sacks containing wheat of last year's crop, which, 



140 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

on account of the congested traffic of the road, is 
awaiting shipment. This surplus is happily most 
opportune, as it will be shipped to the drought- 
stricken region 1,500 miles to the west, where, on 
account of excessive dry weather, in the fairest por- 
tion of Russia in the Volga ^^alley, 300 miles wide 
and nearly 500 miles long, the crops have been al- 
most an absolute failure and much distress exists. 

Omsk, on the Irtish River, the second city of 
Siberia, with a population of 40,000, owes much 
of its importance to the fact that it is the capital of 
Western Siberia, which was moved from Tobolsk 
in 1824. Like all Siberian towns of this class, it 
has some elegant and even massive government 
buildings, along with many fine brick and stone 
business structures, all embedded in a mass of curi- 
ously built wooden houses. The streets, except 
the long one on which the business houses are 
located, and forming the artery of the town, are 
unpaved ; much of the year they are almost impas- 
sable. Like all Russian towns, there are many fine 
churches in Omsk, some of them of great size, and, 
being always of the Oriental type of architect- 
ure, sometimes present an indescribably charming 
appearance. 

At Omsk a most interesting character came 
aboard the train, on his way to Tomsk, returning 
thence to Moscow to attend the dedication there 



AN INTERESTING CHARACTER 



H3 



of the monument to the Czar Alexander IL, which 
is soon to take place and promises to be an impos- 
ing affair. He was a fine specimen of this hardy 
race, about sixty-five years of age, most intelligent 
and well educated. He is the mayor of quite an 




STREET SCENE IN TOMSK 



important city called Vernoe, in Southern Siberia 
in the Altai Mountains, over i,ooo miles southeast 
of Omsk. He had just driven from that city in a 
troika, a distance of 1,200 miles, in eight days. 
Having spent most of his life in that region, he 



144 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



had never before seen a railway. It was interest- 
ing to note his dazed and half-frightened appear- 
ance as the train moved off. Through my guide, 
I obtained from him much valuable information as 




'M 



-»r^ :^^ 



^ % 



ON THE STEPPES OF SIBERIA, EAST OF KURGAN 

to the nature of the great region lying south of 
the railway line. 

He informed me that for 600 miles the same 
level, rich, black prairie lands extended. After 
that, by a gradual ascent through 500 or 600 miles 
further, the lands meanwhile growing more rolling 
and rougher, the summit of the Altais is reached 
at an elevation of 12,000 feet. All the cereals 




^y^s^mmm. 



~^^i^M 



DISTANT VIEW OF TOMSK 




STREET SCENE IN TOMSK 



GROWTH OF CEREALS IN SIBERIA 147 

grow there in great luxuriance and abundance. 
Even Indian corn throughout a great extent of 
that country grows and matures in the most per- 
fect manner. The usual crop of wheat, he stated, 
was about thirty bushels per acre, and that of oats 




MARKET SCENE IX TOMSK 



about sixty bushels. The country, as a whole, is 
practically unsettled, being occupied mainly by a 
few roving tribes of Kalmuck or Kirghiz Tartars. 
Tomsk is, perhaps, the most important and 
largest town in Siberia, and has had a rapid growth 
since the railway has been completed there. It is 
not on the main line, but eighty miles away on a 



148 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



branch running northward down the Tom \"alley, 
and which in due time will be extended. It much 
resembles Omsk, having some fine government and 
business buildings. The prison is a huge, ugly, 
brick building, with low, vaulted corridors in the 




VILLAGE IN SIBERIA, IX THE TOM RIVER VALLEY, ON THE POST-ROUTE 
FROM TOMSK TO TOBOLSK 

interior, the whole of such gloomy aspect as to 
fully satisfy the most dismal imaginings of those 
who are disposed to believe in the horrors of 
Siberian prison life. There is a flourishing uni- 
versity in Tomsk, with 300 students and thirty 
professors. I might add that Tomsk is lighted 
by electric light and has a telephone system. 



EXCURSIONS INTO THE COUNTRY 151 

As the departure of trains eastward from Tomsk 
is most irregular and uncertain, being usually at 
intervals of from three to five days, this delay gave 
me an opportunity to make several interesting and 



m 




fir' 


M 


' /' ■' 


^^' -^-iriw _ 




ii 



VIEW ON POST-ROUTE BETWEEN TOMSK AND IRKUTSK 



instructive excursions far into the country, on the 
old post-routes running to Tobolsk and Irkutsk. 
In these I saw the native Russian life in its most 
provincial form. While there are a few good 
roads leading from Tomsk, there are many very 
bad ones. 



VIII 

Travelling on post and common roads in Russia and Siberia — 
Unique outfit — Splendor of private equipages — A Siberian 
tarantass — Manner of hitching the horses — Speed discomforts 
and excitement of travel on tarantass — Seeing Tartar life in 
its simplicity — A queer-looking vehicle — Homely but effective 
— Experience versus philosophy — Furious driving — The village 
sheik — A compatriot of the great Circassian Schemyl — A 
Mohammedan — His family life — Beauty and filial devotion of 
his children — His wives — Influence of the wife among the 
Kalmucks — Kirghiz village — Hospitality of our host — Our Yam- 
stchik — His style and skill as a driver — Great speed of horses 
without use of whip — Return to Tomsk-T-Various modes of 
travel. 

I HAD occasion before to refer to the manner 
in which travel is effected on the common roads 
of Russia. It is the same here, only they use 
vehicles more unique, and in some cases decidedly 
indigenous. As in European Russia, they invari- 
ably drive their horses abreast. In the droshkies 
about the cities, they generally use for common 
purposes one or two horses only ; but in occasional 
turnouts, where display is the fad of the owner, a 
troika with three horses is used. Travellino- through 
the country is done with three to seven horses, 



TRAVEL ON COMMON ROADS 



155 



according to the condition of the road and the 
number of passengers to be carried ; for it must 
be understood that the driver makes the same time 
and speed over rough and muddy roads as over 
smooth ones, having not the sHghtest regard for 









«J 




^ "viiKJk^B^ ^^^V^^^^H 





ANOTHER MODE OF TRAVELLING IN SIBERIA 



either the safety or comfort of the luckless occu- 
pant. Nothing can surpass the chic of a first-class 
and well-appointed Russian or Siberian team when 
in full motion. The horses are all well kept and 
high spirited. The centre horse is hitched be- 
tween shafts to guide the vehicle, and is usually 
the steadiest and most vigorous of the lot. For 



156 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



the outer horses, they generally select very hand- 
some and alert ones, with long, flowing manes and 
tails carefully dressed. By some peculiar method 
of reining these horses, their heads are drawn low 




STREET SCENE IN TOMSK 



down and outward, causing them to pull at an 
angle from those in the middle. The cunning 
way in which they toss their pretty little heads and 
their other coquettish capers as they plunge along 



SEEING TARTAR LIFE 159 

at a full gallop, being in such marked contrast with 
the more sturdy and uniform gait of the central 
horses, impart an indescribable style and dash to 
the outfit. 

Being desirous of seeing Tartar life in its sim- 
plest and primitive form, untouched by the ways 
of the city, I concluded to drive to a somewhat 
noted village to the southwest of Tomsk, where 
the camel trains from Samarkand to Irkutsk via 
Semipalatinsk cross those from the China border 
going northwest to Petropavlovsk. Being limited 
in time, as I desired to take the first train east- 
ward, that was announced to leave in a few days, 
I instructed my guide to procure me a comfort- 
able and suitable outfit for the expedition, and to 
arrange for our departure at an early hour. 
Having had a recent rain, and the roads therefore 
being somewhat heavy, he advised the use of a 
tarantass, with five horses, for a portion of the 
way, until the lighter roads on the higher lands 
were reached, when the journey could be completed 
with three horses. 

On driving up in the morning, I took a swift 
glance at the strange-looking vehicle, and my 
guide looked at me with a suspicious smile. I 
had previously seen and travelled in the strange 
enough looking droshkies and troikas, but the 
sudden apparition of this nondescript took me 



i6o 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



completely aback. I said to my guide : " I know 
you speak English well enough, but I doubt your 
Russian, as this driver has evidently misunder- 
stood your order, for instead of a tarantass, he has 




NATIVE WAITING FOR FERRY ON TOM RIVER 

brought me a specimen from some museum of 
natural history, as it looks more like a fossil skel- 
eton of the paleozoic age, mounted on wheels, than 
a vehicle to make a long and tedious journey in." 
It looked as if the owner had built it in his back 



A SIBERIAN TARANTASS 



i6i 



yard, with an inch auger and a hatchet. With 
many Hvely gestures, and, I suppose, choice and 
vigorous Tartar, he informed my guide that it was 
a real tarantass, a true Siberian tarantass, in fact, 
the best and most comfortable in the whole city, 




CROSSING TOM RIVER, SIBERIA, ON A RUDE FERRY-BOAT 



and that it was perfectly safe. I despair of 
worthily describing this strange assemblage of 
parts, the intricate network of poles, braces, and 
ribs, all lashed and bound together with leather 
thongs, and not a nail or bolt in it. Excepting the 
linch-pin and the tires on the wheels, I don't 



i62 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

believe there was an ounce of iron in its whole 
composition. It seemed to me it was in immi- 
nent danger of rattling to pieces like a child's 
toy house. 

It was wholly without springs, and to break the 
shock due to inequalities of the road, reliance was 
placed entirely on the pliability of the structure 
and the elasticity of the almost rigid poles upon 
which the body was mounted. To a rather con- 
temptuous look, born of a remembrance of our own 
mighty achievements in iron and steel in the West, 
he replied that the vehicle was well constructed, 
and that it was all right, and. indeed, to perform 
the services required of it it could be made in no 
other way. Alas, for the previsions of human wis- 
dom ! The event proved tnat he was correct, and 
furnished additional evidence that the crude re- 
sults of a blind and awkward experience often 
upset the refined deductions of a speculative phi- 
losophy. After being thumped and bumped about 
for twenty-four hours, I came to have more respect 
for the skill that put the parts together so as to 
safely yield to the irregularities of the road, which 
must certainly prove fatal to one rigidly con- 
structed. 

In fact, this was illustrated a few days later in 
an uncomfortable manner when, taking another 
tarantass of a new pattern, equipped with steel 



OLD AND NEW TARANTASS 



163 



axles, we had not driven a mile before one of the 
axles snapped short off near the wheel, bringing us 
down in one common ruin, and we were obliged to 
complete our journey in the old reliable one. The 




AT THE POST-HOUSE 



body of our vehicle was a sort of shallow basket 
and without seats. It was filled with hay, on which 
you sit in the bottom in a half-reclining position. 
I had no sooner nestled myself down in the hay 



i64 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

than the driver leaped into his seat and the horses 
suddenly dashed into such a furious pace as to 
well-nigh jerk me out of the vehicle and wrench 
my spine from my body. 

The rain of the previous night had caused the 
road to be cut into many deep ruts and into what 
we call in the West "chuck holes." I soon dis- 
covered that the injunction to my guide to make 
good time was being only too literally followed by 
the driver. Off he flew at a full gallop, the horses 
going literally ventre a terre, just as, if he were 
driving over the finest roads of France. All pro- 
tests were unavailing, for I afterwards learned that 
before starting he had stoutly recruited himself 
from his bottle of vodka, which stuck conspicuously 
out of his pocket. I also felt somewhat reassured 
when my guide told me that it was quite the cus- 
tom in this country to drive in this manner on a 
long trip, when good time was required. On reach- 
ing the first village where relays were to be pro- 
vided, I found that we had covered a distance of 
nearly twenty versts — almost fourteen miles — in a 
trifle over an hour. 

After refreshing ourselves with a cup of tea 
from the ubiquitous samovar, which you find 
everywhere, we resumed our journey. On the 
roads becoming smoother, we reduced our team to 
three horses, and without any abatement of our 



A ROUGH JOURNEY 



167 



pace we finally reached our destination, where I 
alighted to take an inventory of my damaged 
anatomy. There was no means of knowing the 




RUSSIAN VILLAGE ON POST-ROUTE, SOUTH OF TOMSK, SIBERIA 



distance, of course, but, judging from my feelings, 
I should think it was a thousand miles, more or 
less. 

On arrival, as is the custom of these people, the 
sheik of the village took charge of us. Being 



i68 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



the important personage here, his house was of 
pretentious proportions and constructed of hewed 
logs much after the Russian custom, forming a 
large square which enclosed a rectangular space. 
He was evidently a man not only of much influ- 




READY TO START. AT THE POST-HOUSE, ON POST-ROUTE SOUTH OF TOMSK, 
IX DIRECTION TOWARD SEMIPALATINSK 



ence, but also of great wealth, for he pointed with 
pride to his great herds of horses, cattle, and 
sheep on the adjacent plains. He informed us 
that he was a compatriot of Schemyl, and fought 
with that celebrated chieftain against the Musco- 




CATHEDRAL IX TOMSK 



WITH A MOHAMMEDAN TARTAR 171 

vite. He also exhibited with much pride a medal 
given him by the present Czar when as Crown 
Prince he visited this region, and whose guide he 
was. He at once extended those little courtesies 




STREET SCENE IN TOMSK 



and substantial comforts that have made these 
people so famous for their hospitality. 

I had no sooner entered his apartments than I 
discovered, by the familiar appointments of his 



172 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

household, that he was a Mohammedan. He at 
once, as is the manner of these people, brought 
in and introduced his children, of whom he was 
intensely fond, an affection fully reciprocated by 
them, a characteristic which I long since observed 
is true of all Asiatics. He had two most lovely 
little boys of ten to twelve years of age, and a 
daughter of surpassing beauty. 

As he himself and his favorite wife — for he had 
several — were of Caucasian descent, she reflected 
in the highest degree the exquisite beauty for 
which her race is noted. The inimitable purity of 
her complexion ; the soft, dreamy eyes of the Cir- 
cassian ; her delightful naivete of manner, com- 
bined with an exquisite Oriental costume, made 
her a veritable Lalla Rookh. In a short time the 
mother appeared, a stately, matronly lady ; for, 
although having three or four wives, like so 
many Mohammedans, he has one who is the wife 
who shares with him the duties and honors of 
the household. 

After drinking the tea and eating the sweet- 
meats they invariably offer, I requested my guide 
to say to him that, being from the far-off land of 
America, I would be pleased to be permitted to 
take a photograph of his family, as I had a camera 
with me. Knowing that it is against the tenets 
of the Koran to in any way reproduce in picture 



A KIRGHIZ VILLAGE 175 

the human form, I was doubtful of his conseiitlno- 
to SO extraordinary a proceeding. After a long 
hesitation, he requested that he might consult his 
wife. 

It is surprising what an influence the wife pos- 
sesses in this polygamous country. I am told that 
amonof the Kalmuck Tartars the husband will not 
sell even a sheep without first consulting her. He 
finally replied that the Koran did indeed forbid 
the making of pictures of themselves, but it did 
not say that an American could not photograph 
them. Gladly accepting the soundness of this 
subtle distinction, I had my guide quickly photo- 
graph the group. 

The village, like all true Kirghiz villages, is com- 
posed of a cluster of the round felt tents or yurts 
I have already referred to. A beautiful little 
mosque, built of something like adobe, rises con- 
spicuously from the assemblage of tents. They 
tend their flocks on the distant steppes, and are 
superb horsemen. Before the building of the 
railway, which has given them a nearer market, 
their traffic was conducted at Samarkand in the 
south and Kurean in the northwest. 

After taking many views of caravans, costumes, 
tents, etc., we prepared for our return. As is the 
custom, there was preliminary to this an exchange 
of small presents with the host and his family. 



176 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

He wanted particularly to know my address in 
Moscow, as he desired to send me there, in the 
form of some substantial present, a token of his 
regards. We left carrying with us a most agree- 
able impression of the rude but sincere hospitality 
of these people. 

Our driver was a full Kalmuck. As his race, 
unlike the Kirghiz, devote their attention almost 
wholly to the rearing of horses, they are therefore 
experts in all that appertains to that noble animal. 
It was truly wonderful the way he handled his un- 
wieldly team. The trappings of his harness were 
like the rigging of a ship. I marveled how he man- 
aged when driving at such a great speed that they 
did not become a hopeless tangle. As he never 
used a whip, making with his mouth simply an 
occasional buzzing sound, I am still wondering 
how he so silently and quietly urged his horses 
into such a furious gait, which they seldom broke. 
His posture when driving at full speed, the ease 
and erace with which he controlled the reins in 
his well-filled hands, gave a style that might well 
be the despair of any fashionable whip of London 
or New York. I have traveled in California 
stages, Japanese jinrikshas, Arabian caravans, and 
Hindoo ox-garries, but I must say that a Siberian 
tarantass, engineered by a Kalmuck Yamstchik with 
a little vodka for fuel, easily beats the record. 



ON THE RACE-COURSE 179 

At the distance of two or three miles from 
Tomsk there is a splendid race-course, at which 
excellent meetings are often held. Being the sea- 
son when the ereat annual event was to occur, I 
visited the course, that I might study the sporting 




ON THE TURF AT TOMSK 

side of life in this remote reofion. Aloncr the 
whole route I was surprised to see the road liter- 
ally crowded with superb equipages, filled with 
ladies and gentlemen evidently of the very best 
class. Many of the ladies were exquisitely cos- 
tumed, obviously in what was the very latest 



i8o SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

product of Parisian art. The roadside was well 
lined with pedestrians wending their way to the 
races. In fact, were it not for strong local pecu- 
liarities and coloring, that reminded one that he 
was in a far-off inter-Asiatic city, one might easily 
imaorine that he was on the road to the Saratocra 
races, or to Epsom Downs. Here, as in almost 
every place in Russian possessions, we were con- 
stantly surprised to find how closely the people of 
this great empire follow the customs and progress, 
and adopt the conveniences and improvements, of 
other countries. The vehicles used on the course 
I found, to my astonishment, were of the very 
latest and best patterns to be found in the most 
progressive and up-to-date countries. I found in 
Omsk, Tomsk, and other Siberian towns that rub- 
ber tires were in such g'eneral use as to attract no 
attention. In fact, I believe that in Moscow and 
St. Petersburg this useful and almost novel device 
is in more general use than in either Paris, Lon- 
don, or New York. The races here were mainly 
running and trotting. I was especially interested 
in a running race where little Tartar boys were 
the riders. They rode bare-backed, and coming 
of a race who almost live on horseback, the skill 
and agility they very naturally displayed was at 
once surprising and amusing. The crowd at the 
races, being of the usual mixed character, was, 



DEPORTMENT OF THE PEOPLE 



i«3 



however, excellent in its deportment. In truth, 
I have never seen a more quiet, peaceful, and 
orderly assemblage of people on any public oc- 




l,f- 




STREET SCENE IN TOMSK 



casion. What surprised me greatly was the al- 
most entire absence of either bettino- or intoxi- 
cation, as I was somehow led into the belief that 
the Russians were great gamblers as well as drink- 



1 84 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

ers, and expected to find here striking exhibi- 
tions of both. 

Krasnoyarsk is on the Yenisei River and is 
practically now the end of the Siberian railway, 
at least so far as passenger traffic is concerned. 
Tomsk is the terminus of the present through 
passenger service, from which place, however, an 
ordinary train is run about once a week to the 
Yenisei River. Although the track is laid for 
nearly 600 miles further eastward to Lake Baikal 
and near Irkutsk, only an occasional mixed freight 
and passenger train is put on this section ; but 
no one can tell when it is to depart — a fact only 
made known by the officials three or four clays in 
advance. Travel, therefore, from here eastward 
becomes most uncertain as well as very uncom- 
fortable. 

There is no bridge over the Yenisei, the cross- 
ing at present being done on a rather rude and 
imperfect ferry. They are busily engaged in the 
construction of a handsome iron bridge nearly a 
mile in length. It will be completed in a few 
months, when it will be possible to make a con- 
tinuous journey on a fairly comfortable through 
train to Irkutsk and Lake Baikal, a distance of 
nearly 4,000 miles east of Moscow. 

The gold mines here and in the hills beyond 
furnish some measure of varied interest to the 



MINES EAST OF THE YENISEI 



187 



weary and expectant traveller. They are mainly 
placer mines, but in the foot-hills of the Altai 
Mountains, which the road approaches near Irkutsk, 
quartz mining is being developed. The mining 




RAILWAY STATION ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY, BETWEEN THE OBI AND TOM 
RIVERS, ABOUT ONE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED MILES EAST OF THE 
URAL MOUNTAINS 

interests generally are said to be rapidly growing, 
with much promise for the future. Being largely 
the property of the government, but few details 
concerning them can be obtained as to their future 
possibilities, as they are shrouded with the usual 
official secrecy of this country. 



1 88 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

As I have now travelled about 3,000 miles in Si- 
beria by railway, troika, tarantass, and otherwise, I 
am debating in my mind whether I shall proceed 
farther eastward, or begin my return from this 
region. It is possible to go some hundreds of 
miles farther on by rail, but it is doubtful if what 
one sees will be an adequate reward for the delays 
and hardships encountered. I am told that, for the 
most part, the country and scenery are quite the 
same as I have been lookino- at for weeks — the 
same succession of fertile plains, with their won- 
drous growth of grass, bedecked at times by a sea 
of flowers, and stretching far away to the horizon 
like a billowy ocean ; the same crowds of emigrants 
in streams and train-loads to the country beyond, 
and the same embryo towns springing up every- 
where like mushrooms from the earth ; all of 
which, however surprising and interesting it may 
be in the outstart, becomes at last a wearisome 
monotony. 

Another consideration influences my return with- 
out going farther eastward. I desire to consume 
several davs in an examination of the laro^er towns 
on the route, which I had not the opportunity of 
doing on my way hither. It is, moreover, my in- 
tention to leave the railwav at Kurgan, and cut 
across the country to the Caspian Sea by the route 
followed by the camel trains between those points. 



RETURN WESTWARD 191 

It follows the Tobol River a hundred miles or so, 
and then crosses the Kirghiz steppes, finally reach- 
ing the Caspian Sea, where the ships leave for 
Baku. The distance is about 800 miles, and as 
the roads are said to be fairly good, the jour- 
ney can be comfortably made in a little over a 
week. Crossing the Caspian Sea, I will go through 
the Caucasus, said to be the loveliest mountain 
scenery in the world ; then via Tifiis to Batoum ; 
from thence to Rostoff on the Don, and to Moscow 
and St. Petersburg. I will then have completed, 
•in so far as is practicable, a tour of a large part of 
what is destined to become the mightiest empire 
on the globe. 



IX 



Return westward — Route across the Kirghiz steppes to the Caspian 
Sea — Down the Volga River to Astrakhan — Rise and commer- 
cial importance of that city — Modern trade diversion and its 
effects — Russia a land of fairs — Nijni Novgorod and its great 
fair — Kharkov, Ilinsk, and other leading fairs — Preferred route 
across the Caspian Sea to Central Asia — Importance of the 
Volga River as a means of transportation — Numerous fleets of 
coal-oil barges — Statistics of freight traffic on the Volga and 
Onega system — Partiality of Russians for American products 
and methods. 

Astrakhan, September, 1898. 

Returxixg westward, I found on inquiry at Kur- 
ean that the route I had intended takine from that 
town to the Caucusus via the Caspian Sea, while 
easily accomplished in eight days, was likely to 
prove devoid of interest, unless one is supposed 
never to tire of what is wholly rural and pastoral. 

There are no cities of importance on the entire 
route, only a few Russian villages settled by 
recent immigrants into that region from the older 
and congested districts of European Russia, numer- 
ous Tartar auls, and an occasional caravansary for 
the accommodation of the miany camel trains that 
travel over this route, of which I have seen here 



DOWN THE VOLGA RIVER 



195 



and in other quarters of the globe more than 
enough. 

I, therefore, came westward to the point where 
the Siberian railway first touches the Volga River at 




ON THE VOLGA RIVER 



Samara. From that town I came on one of the 
multitude of splendid passenger steamers that ply 
this mighty river — the Mississippi of Russia — to 
Astrakhan at the head of the Caspian Sea, a dis- 
tance of over 1,000 miles. 



196 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

This is a fine old city that justly ranks as a very 
ancient one, dating in its origin close back to the 
Christian era. It has a population of about 150,- 
000, of such complex nature as might be expected 
at a point where the commercial advantages belong- 




FIRE WORSHIPPERS TEMPLE IN ASTRAKHAN 



ing to it have caused the mixed people of Asia to 
converge through centuries for the purposes of 
trade. 

It has many well-paved streets, and handsome 
public and business buildings. One of the churches 
most noted in all Russia for its imposing and ex- 



CITY OF ASTRAKHAN 



199 



pensive interior decorations is here. The city is 
well supplied with street railways, water-works, 
etc., and the glare of the electric light indicates 




SCENE ON THE LANDING AT ASTRAKHAN 

that it is well provided with many of the up-to-date 
luxuries and accessories of other more progressive 
and pretentious cities. It owes its origin and im- 
portance to the fact that for centuries it was the 
main point of commercial contact between the 
merchants of Central Asia and those of the western 



200 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

world, being, in fact, the entrepot where Oriental 
products were concentrated for Western distribu- 
tion. The Caspian Sea, on the one hand, furnished 
for Central Asia a means for transporting its prod- 
ucts to the mouth of the Volga, whence on that 
river and its tributaries they found their way north- 
ward and westward to the European markets. 

As before the days of steamships and railways 
Astrakhan had practically a monopoly of Central 
Asian traffic, she continued to grow and prosper 
until the development of railways in Russia and a 
more perfect system of river and canal transporta- 
tion made Nijni Novgorod her great competitor 
as a grand distributing point of eastern and west- 
ern products, which, through her wonderful annual 
markets, she held for many years. 

Such, however, is the rapidity with which trade 
and its methods change in these modern days, that 
Nijni in turn has lost much of its importance, and 
at no distant day will cease largely to occupy its 
present position as an intermediate depot between 
Asia and Europe, an advantage that gave first to 
Astrakhan, and afterwards to Nijni, such commer- 
cial prominence and wondrous growth. Such are 
the ample and ever-increasing facilities for trade 
now supplied by railways, steamships, telegraphs, 
etc., that the merchants of the extreme East and 
West can now rapidly and directly communicate. 



RUSSIAN FAIRS 203 

or easily meet, in the marts of their respective 
countries, so that an intermediate trading point or 
centre is fast becoming wholly unnecessary. 

Russia is essentially a land of fairs, there being 
held in the various villages, towns, and cities 
throughout the empire nearly 3,000 every year, at 
which over 300,000,000 dollars' worth of goods 
and merchandize is sold. Of these, Nijni Nov- 
gorod, two hundred miles east of Moscow, at the 
junction of the Okra and Volga rivers, stands first 
in rank ; and, indeed, with very few exceptions, 
the world has never seen anything more exten- 
sive and important than the annual fairs held in 
this city since 181 7. At Irbit, in the government 
of Perm, in the Ural Mountains, there is also held 
an annual fair of much importance, at which the 
sales amount to over 30,000,000 dollars annually. 

With the fairs at Kharkov, Ilinsk, Romny, 
and a few others, a list would be completed of 
those of the leading class or first magnitude. Of 
the second class there are fifty; there are sixty of 
the third, and over 300 of the fourth class. The 
balance, of nearly 2,500, are those held in the 
towns, villages, and communes. The Nijni Nov- 
gorod fair is officially in operation scarcely five 
weeks, in the months of July and August. The 
important position it holds in the internal trade of 
Russia will be realized from the fact that in this 



204 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



short time nearly 100,000,000 dollars' worth of 
wares and merchandise is sold. 

It is my present intention to go from here via 




TOWN ON THE VOLGA RIVKR BET\VP:EN KAZAN AND NIJNI NOVGOROD 

the Caspian Sea to Baku, a distance of 600 miles. 
From there, crossing the Caspian Sea to Uzum 
Ada, I am in hopes of getting a permit to go on 
the military railway that runs through the trans- 
Caspian region to Merv, Bokhara, Samarkand, 



TRAFFIC ON THE VOLGA 207 

and Tashkent, right into the very heart of Asia — 
a trip that is rarely made, and until recent years 
a region almost inaccessible to people of the West. 
Samarkand, especially on account of its antiquities 
and its having been the capital of Tamerlane, I 
desire very much to visit. 

Returning to Baku, I will take one of the steam- 
ers that run hence daily to Lenkoran, in Northern 
Persia, through which I will return via Erivan, at 
the base of Mt. Ararat, which city is the present 
capital of Armenia. From there I will go to 
Tiflis, through Kars and Erzerum ; then passing 
over the Caucasian Mountains to Vladikavkaz, I 
will take the railway there for Moscow, hoping to 
arrive in that city about the middle or end of 
November. 

As, for the present at least, it is my intention to 
write only of my observations and experiences in 
Siberia, I must, therefore, forego the temptation 
to give in detail, and refer only briefly to, the ob- 
jects of interests one sees on a voyage down the 
Volga. I may, however, say in passing that the 
trade and travel on this great highway are little 
short of wonderful. The large, comfortable pas- 
senger boats, of best pattern and most approved 
machinery, can be numbered almost by hundreds, 
and the steam, freight, and tugboats that swarm 
on this great river, almost by thousands. 



208 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



These, with the numerous fleets of barges with 
coal oil from Baku, and other merchandise, give 
more the appearance of the Hudson between New 



IflHta^^K^^L. ■^^ 


KlM^ 










■ "^H 



PICTURESQUE FORMATION ON THE VOLGA RIVER, TWO HUNDRED MILES 
ABOVE ASTRAKHAN 

York and Yonkers, than of a river traversing the 
open steppes of Russia. 

Statistics show that the waterways forming the 
Volga-Onega system carry yearly over 15,000,000 
tons of freight. Of grain alone, this river and 



BOATS ON THE VOLGA 



211 



its tributaries carry over 100,000,000 bushels an- 
nually. Along with many evidences one meets 
everywhere in Russia of her partiality for and 




WATERMELON MARKET AT LANDING ON THE VOLGA RIVER, BETWEEN 
SIMBIRSK AND SARATOV 

admiration of things American, I would say that 
the boats used on the Volga are almost exclusively 
those of the American pattern. 



X 



Development of Siberian agricultural resources — Its effect upon sim- 
ilar interests in other countries — Prime conditions governing 
the future reclamation of lands in Siberia — Waterways of Rus- 
sia — Careful development of same — River system in Siberia — 
Severity of winters restrict their use — Season of navigation 
— Omsk as a centre of a vast cereal region — Its possible connec- 
tions by water and rail with foreign countries — Necessity for 
greater transportation facilities in Western Siberia — New route 
being created from Omsk to the Baltic — New route between 
Russia and Western Siberia — From Omsk to Havre or London 
— Comparative distances. 

The general facts and data I have given respect- 
ing the possible agricultural resources of Siberia 
very naturally will suggest the pertinent inquiry 
as to what influence their ultimate development 
will have upon similar interests in other countries. 
To a nation like our own, where agriculture is the 
dominant industry, and upon the healthfulness of 
which depends almost all other industrial interests, 
and whose exportable surplus forms our most val- 
uable national resource, this inquiry possesses 
exceptional interest and importance. 

As the prime factor in this question is the rapid- 
ity with which these lands can be developed— 



SETTLEMENT OF LANDS IN SIBERIA 215 



this governing the possible exportable surplus — an 
inquiry into this subject will fall naturally under 
several heads, the chief being transportation facil- 
ities for internal and external purposes, the 




TOWN ON THE LOWER A'OLOA RIVER 

policy of the government as to the settlement 
of the lands, and the relation of growth of pop- 
ulation to any possible rate of agricultural devel- 
opment. 

I have heretofore stated that the Russian o-ov- 



2i6 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

ernment has under contemplation a somewhat 
extended system of railways for the whole of 
Siberia, both for strategical and commercial pur- 
poses. They, however, by no means rely wholl)' 
on railways for transportation. 



VIEW ACROSS TOM RIVER, SIBERIA 

Like all European countries, the utmost care Is 
here taken for the preservation, development, and 
improvement of her natural and artificial water- 
ways. She is, in addition to the most careful use 
of all her rivers, contemplating vast schemes of 
canal construction to supplement and interweave 
her river courses. As a result, not only the main 



RIVERS OF SIBERIA 217 

stems, but even the smallest tributaries of her 
large rivers are made serviceable for the uses of 
transportation in the highest degree, so that in- 
ternal distribution of tonnage is effected through- 
out the country by a very intricate network of 
navigable rivers and improved streamlets, often 
linked together by suitable canals. 

So pronounced is the policy favoring water 
transportation here, that one never sees what has 
so often happened in our own country, and which 
is much to be deplored — the subordination of nat- 
ural and artificial waterways to other methods of 
transportation, and even, in some cases, their total 
destruction. 

As I have before pointed out, the whole of Si- 
beria is traversed from south to north by large 
rivers, at intervals of a few hundred miles. These 
rivers invariably spread out fan-like into numerous 
branches, all of which are navigable, or can be 
rendered so, through much of their length and 
during a large portion of the year. To almost the 
southern boundary of Siberia, therefore, water 
transportation can ultimately be effected. 

Vast as is this natural system of waterways, its 
efficiency will, of course, be somewhat curtailed by 
the severity of the winters in Northern Siberia. 
But under the wise fostering policy of the govern- 
ment, there will no doubt in time be rendered as 



2l8 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



efficient a system of rivers and canals as now exists 
in European Russia, and which plays so important 
a part in her internal commerce. 

These rivers, it is said, are open for navigation 




FERRY-BOAT ON TOM RIVER, SIBERIA 



usually from about the middle of April or ist of 
May to the ist of October. This gives quite six 
months of continuous navigation, which is not 
greatly exceeded by our great chain of northern 
lakes, and canals such as the Erie, which, while 



OMSK AS A GRAIN CENTRE 



219 



open, have such an important bearing on rates and 
the freight traffic of the whole country. 

As the Obi and Yenisei rivers with their tribu- 




HOUSES FOR STORAGE OF GRAIN AND WHEAT IN SACKS AWAITING SHIP- 
MENT AT NEW RAILWAY STATION, EIGHT HUNDRED MILES EAST 
OF THE URAL MOUNTAINS, ON TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY 



taries permeate the entire western half of Siberia, 
and the distance of Omsk, the centre of the great 
grain and pasture lands of that country, from Euro- 
pean markets is about 5,000 miles via the Arctic 



220 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Sea, therefore for nearly six months an area of 
agricultural lands nearly equal in extent to the 
arable lands of the United States will be in almost 




SCENE ON THE IRTISH RIVER, SIBERIA 



as direct and continuous communication with 
Western Europe as is Chicago via the Great 
Lakes and St. Lawrence River. 

The necessity of providing more adequate means 
for transporting the surplus agricultural products 



NEW TRANSPORTATION LINES 



221 



already created by the Siberian railway has fully 
impressed itself on the Russian mind. The present 
congested condition of that line, which is likely 
to grow worse, has caused the projection of several 
competing routes, to give this much-needed relief. 



VIEW ACROSS THE IRTISH RIVER, SIBERIA 



A railway is already under construction running 
directly eastward from St. Petersburg to Perm, to 
connect with the railway now running from that 
city over the Ural Mountains to Tiumen, on the 
headwaters of the Tobol River. 

This line will, therefore, provide direct communi- 
cation between Omsk and the Baltic Sea, in com- 



222 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

petition with the Siberian Hne, which it will parallel 
300 or 400 miles to the north. Indeed, for the 
season of river navigation this route is now prac- 
tically available. 

On my way eastward, I fell in with a prominent 




VIEW ACROSS THE TOM RIVER, SIBERIA 

Russian grain merchant, who was on his way to 
Omsk to establish a line of transportation to the 
Baltic, in order to drain some of the large surplus 
of grain already accumulated on the line of the 
Trans-Siberian railway, which for want of suffi- 
cient facilities it finds itself incapable of carrying. 
He described to me in detail the proposed new 



NEW TRANSPORTATION LINES 223 

route, which was down the Irtish River from Omsk 
and up the Tobol to Tiumen, a distance of about 
800 miles. From Tiumen, connection is to be 
made by rail to Perm on the Kama River, a distance 
of 500 miles. 

At the latter point, boats run down the Kama 
River and up the Volga to the head of navigation 
of that river, where, by a canal to the Ladoga Sea 
and through the Neva, a continuous waterway is 
provided between Perm and the Baltic Sea. Thus, 
by this route, excepting the intermediate link of 500 
miles of railroad, Omsk can be placed, via the 
Baltic, in direct communication by water with West- 
ern Europe for at least six months of the year, the 
whole distance being somewhat less than from 
Chicago to Liverpool or Havre. 



XI 



Transportation route in Southwestern Siberia — Route between 
Caspian and Blacl<: seas —To connect the Volga and Don 
rivers — All-waterway between Caspian Sea and Europe — Neg- 
lect of American waterways — Careful preservation of same in 
Europe — Methods of utilizing rivers in Europe for transporta- 
tion purposes — Use of the Seine in France — Through the heart 
of France in a boat — Neglect and decay of American rivers as 
lines of transport — Railways versus water transportation — What 
would result from thorough development of American river 
system — Russia's real progress — Great foresight — Not doomed 
to the fate of China — Russia in the field of diplomacy — The offi- 
cial class — Redundant population — Its danger to all nations — 
Unwisdom of developing urban at the expense of the rural popu- 
lation — Results in the necessity for land grabbing — Wise policy 
underlying settlement of Siberia — Plan of settlement — Conserv- 
ing old vested interests — Deterrent influences in settlement of 
Siberia — Rapid growth of population — Its current necessities 
— Probable effect of Siberia upon markets in other countries. 

There are yet two other routes In prospect, 
which, when completed, will be both short and di- 
rect. By a system of railways in Southwestern 
Siberia, of 500 to 1,500 miles in length, reinforced 
by canal and river courses, a thorough drainage 
of tonnage to the east coast of the Caspian Sea 
can be effected from that vast region, being in 
extent equal to the Middle and Western States of 



VARIOUS LINES OF TRANSPORTATION 227 

our country, and with a productive capacity equal 
to one-half that of the whole United States. 
From the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea ships 
can be run at all seasons to Baku in the Cau- 
casus. 

By the Trans-Caucasian railway, a distance of a 
little less than 500 miles, the Caspian Sea is con- 
nected with the Black Sea. This will, therefore, 
make an open-water route the whole season from 
the Caspian to Western Europe, a distance of 
about 5,500 miles. Save the connecting link of 
railway from Baku to Batoum, a distance of about 
500 miles, there will, therefore, be a continuous 
water route from Southwestern Siberia to Europe, 
from the east shore of the Caspian Sea. 

The other scheme, while of the highest order, 
both from an engineering point of view and com- 
mercial as well, and while fully surveyed and esti- 
mated, is yet "under the red cloth," as the Rus- 
sians say, meaning that it is still enveloped in the 
shrouded councils of " The Ministry of Transpor- 
tation and Communication." 

At Tzaritzin, about 300 miles above Astra- 
khan, the Volga River approaches within fifty 
miles of the Don River, running northward 
from the Black Sea. It is proposed to cut a 
canal across this intervening space to connect 
the two rivers, both of which will be navigable 



228 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

to this point three-fourths of the year. By this 
route, therefore, a continuous waterway can be 
estabHshed for nine months in the year be- 
tween the Caspian Sea and the markets of West- 
ern Europe, via the Volga and Don rivers and 
the Black Sea. 

When the water and railway systems of West- 
ern Siberia are perfected, as they will be in due 
time, that great country, with its vast and yet un- 
touched agricultural resources, will be placed quite 
as near the surplus-consuming centres of Europe 
as the centre of the great surplus-producing region 
of the United States. 

I desire at this point to make especial reference 
to what I have so frequently spoken of hereto- 
fore, viz.: the lamentable neglect of our splendid 
system of waterways, which stands in such start- 
ling contrast with the careful and thorough devel- 
opment and preservation of the natural and arti- 
ficial water-courses in almost all other countries. 
To the observing American tourist, whose mind is 
at all bent upon a study of the material interests 
and resources of the countries through which he 
travels, nothing strikes him with such force — 
with the sole exception, perhaps, of the splendid 
common roads — as the careful and thorough man- 
ner in which every river or stream of any size is 
utilized for transportation purposes. 



IMPROVEMENT OF RIVERS 229 

Everywhere one sees the river beds deepened 
by dredging, the channel widened, the banks care- 
fully walled, and the shores suitably jettied, and 
every means employed to render them suitable for 
navigation. So thoroughly is this done, especially 
in France, German}^, Italy, Austria, and to a great 
extent in this country, that little bits of streams 
only a few rods wide are by suitable flash dams 
and other means converted into excellent channels 
for boats. 

It is thus that in France the Seine is made 
navigable from the sea to Tonnerre, where it be- 
comes an insignificant streamlet. From this point, 
over the Bureundv hills, a canal of about sixtv 
miles forms a connecting link with the headwaters 
of the Rhone flowing southward. A boat, there- 
fore, of considerable tonnage can pass right through 
the centre of France to the Mediterranean Sea. 

By the same means, as I have before stated, a 
continuous waterway is provided through the 
middle of European Russia from the Baltic to 
the Caspian Sea. 

It is with sorrow mingled with diseust that one 
recalls the shameless neglect of our mighty river 
systems, the grandest on the globe — the Missis- 
sippi, the Ohio, the Missouri, and scores of other 
rivers with their tributaries — and even the com- 
plete abandonment of the Wabash, the Illinois, 



230 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

and many others that in early days were so valu- 
able and serviceable, and could still by a little 
attention be so maintained. ^^ 

What can be said of the policy of a country 
that will allow such an important trade artery as 
the old Wabash and Erie Canal to become extinct ? 
You and I well know that it was this valuable 
waterway, running from Terre Haute to Toledo, 
that developed and enriched the great Wabash 
valley, which remained one of the most prosperous 
and flourishing regions of the whole West until 
the withering touch of the overstocked and much 
manipulated Wabash Railway sapped and absorbed 
its accumulated resources. 

With the noblest river on the globe permeating 
with its many tributaries almost the entire region 
from whence our exportable agricultural surplus 
has been derived, and will in future continue 
wholly to be derived, and which could be carried 
entirely by water to the consumptive centres of 
Europe, we to-day discover the astounding situa- 
tion that our country is almost exclusively de- 
pendent upon the railways to carry this great 
surplus to the seaboard. 

Were our main rivers only, to say nothing of 
the smaller streams that other countries would 
readily render serviceable, improved and utilized 
to anything like the degree of the Seine, Rhone, 



THE POLICY OF RUSSIA 231 

Garonne, and Marne of France ; the Elbe, Rhine, 
and other streams of Germany ; the Danube, the 
Don, the Volga ; and for that matter even the 
Obi of Siberia, no nation on the globe would 
possess such facilities for cheap transportation to 
foreign countries ; so that no matter what natural 
advantages of agriculture they might possess in 
Siberia, Argentina, India, or elsewhere, we would 
be placed beyond competition in foreign markets. 

When will those patriotic spirits who have the 
public ear, and who are ever on the alert to safe- 
guard the public right and welfare, cry out against 
those influences and abnormal causes that have 
resulted in creating a situation so exceptional as 
to be well-nigh criminal ? 

Whatever may be the disparaging comparisons 
of the slower methods and material progress of 
Russia with the more florid achievements of other 
nations in recent years, it is certain that her prog- 
ress is on such lasting, conservative, and secure 
lines that in the end, when viewed in its entirety, 
it may prove a more real advance than others 
more rapid and consequently less stable. What- 
ever may be her final and declared policy, she 
adheres to it with a steadfastness and pertinacity 
unchangeable and unconquerable. 

Like China, she is preeminently an agricultural 
nation, that interest absorbine nearly four-fifths of 



232 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

her energies and nearly nine-tenths of her popula- 
tion. This great interest she fosters with the 
wisest foresight and the most jealous care. 

Unlike her great neighbor, however, who had 
come to rely upon the virtues and power of peace, 
Russia has long foreseen that military strength 
alone could preserve a national autonomy against 
the forces of foreign aggression and greed, 
marshalled under the specious banner of philan- 
thropy and progress. This fortunate foresight, 
no doubt, saves her from the fate of wholesale 
spoliation that now threatens China. 

While Russia has the most numerous army 
in the world, and has created the largest national 
military element to draw from in case of emer- 
gency, still her policy is not to use her mili- 
tary power for conquest, but mainly for defence. 
Her great acquisitions of territory, amounting to 
one-seventh of the whole globe, have been ac- 
quired much more by diplomacy in the cabinet 
than by power in the field. Yet, as the stern 
and memorable records of Borodino and the 
bloody fields of the Crimea show, when called 
upon to defend her country, her skill and valor 
in the field are not inferior to her ability in the 
realm of diplomacy. 

Never, perhaps, in the history of the human 
race has any nation acquired such vast posses- 



OFFICIAL CLASS OF RUSSIA 233 

sions, or developed so large a population, equal to 
the Roman Empire in its palmiest days, with such 
little bloodshed and such few destructive wars. 

The one great national characteristic of Russia 
seems to be foresight. She deals not so much with 
the present as the future, not with the proximate 
and immediate so much as with the remote and 
ultimate ; and it seems to be a fixed policy never to 
commit herself to any scheme or plan unless the 
ultimate results are so well forecast as to render 
any retrogression or retracing of her steps unnec- 
essary. 

Moreover, there is perhaps no nation whose offi- 
cial classes are so well informed, or who so minutely 
understand the commercial, industrial, and even 
the political policies of other nations, and the real 
working and ultimate trend of their institutions. 
It was, no doubt, this penetrating foresight that 
caused her, long ago, to devise her policy of terri- 
torial acquisition, under which she laid aside for 
future use such vast, accessible, and contiguous 
areas of country which to the rest of the world 
seemed then useless. 

The pressure of a redundant population always 
has been, and perhaps will remain, the chief peril 
threatening the stability of every nation. This 
danger becomes intensified when a nation by con- 
quests, or ill-ordered fiscal policies, develops its 



234 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

commercial, manufacturing, and urban population 
at the expense of rural life. 

In the cry, " Give us bread and amusement," that 
was current in Rome during the Caesars, is to be 
found the germ of a force far more potent and fatal 
to that empire than the rapacity of the Hun or 
the military prowess of the Goth. 

Even now, the same cause is impelling some 
of the foremost nations to resort to the doubtful 
expedient of forcing themselves upon peaceful, 
remote, and older nations, in the hope thereby 
of finding relief from pressing internal forces. 

The acquisition of Siberia and Central Asia, a 
practically uninhabited and contiguous country, 
having over 7,000,000 square miles with less than 
12,000,000 inhabitants, was, no doubt, the result 
of Russian foresight to secure near at home, and 
adjacent, a suitable reservoir into which to pour 
her future and increasing surplus population, pro- 
viding thereby for centuries a safety valve for her 
empire. This lies at the very bottom of her 
settlement and development of Siberia and the 
Central Asian provinces, reserving them as she 
does for the steadily increasing future necessi- 
ties of the older portions of her empire, rather 
than following the example of other nations, who, 
by a rapid development of new territory, quick- 
ened into an undue, intense, and transient life 



SETTLEMENT OF SIBERIAN LANDS 235 

other subsidiary and dependent interests and 
industries. 

From what I can learn, it will probably be the 
policy of Russia to make the settlement and de- 
velopment of Siberia commensurate with the neces- 
sities arising out of the rapid growth of population 
in the parent country, which, however, at its present 
rate, promises to be of no mean order. 

In the first place, it is only citizens of Russia that 
can acquire lands in Siberia. A systematic plan is 
pursued by the government in the distribution and 
disposition of the lands. Wherever there is found 
an overpopulated district in European Russia, 
influences are at once used to cause an emigration 
of a portion of such congested district. Govern- 
ment agents are sent to Siberia to look about and 
secure for such emigrants the most suitable locali- 
ties, due regard being had for racial peculiarities 
and proclivities, and even for the geographical 
locality of the intending emigrant. As an induce- 
ment, nearly eighty acres of land is alloted to each 
settler, and as a further stimulus the government 
in many cases loans 100 rubles for a term of years, 
without interest, to bona fide settlers upon the 
lands. 

As I have before stated, Western Siberia lies 
practically between the same parallels of latitude 
as European Russia; the southern part touching a 



236 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

lower latitude, possesses, therefore, a more genial 
climate. The soil and physical characteristics are 
even more desirable, the only drawback being its 
greater distance from the market. Under these 
circumstances it is easy to see that a great flow of 
immigrants has already set into that country, as is 
evidenced on all hands by crowded trains, newly 
ploughed fields, and numerous embryo towns and 
villages. 

Already the government is considering the im- 
portant question as to what is to be the probable 
influence of the relatively cheaper products of 
these new lands, so readily acquired and so cheaply 
cultivated, upon the agricultural interests of the 
older portions of the empire, where lands have 
been longer cultivated and fixed investments are 
greater. 

Being desirous of conserving the vested interests 
and rights of the agricultural classes in European 
Russia which have been the laborious creation of 
centuries, she does not lose sight of the injurious 
effect that may arise to them by the inflow of the 
products of these lands, the gift of the nation, the 
government thus becoming itself an indirect party 
to the sudden creation of an unjust and perhaps 
injurious competition. 

As a measure designed to aid in overcoming such 
an effect, and to preserve a just equality, I was 



OCCUPATION OF LANDS BY TARTARS 237 

informed that the government contemplates giving 
rebates upon grain and other agricultural rates for 
all foreign shipments, and maintaining higher rates 
on those of a domestic character. This disposition 
on the part of the government to shield the in- 
terests of the agriculturists in the older and longer 
cultivated regions of European Russia, against a 
too violent competition created by the free use of 
property common to all, can be reckoned with as 
one of the influences that will limit and control 
the rapidity with which the lands of Siberia will 
be occupied and reclaimed. 

Another restraint upon the rapid occupation of 
these lands lies in the tenure of a rather sparse but 
evenly distributed Tartar element. Unlike our 
American Indians, who possessed the waste lands 
of the West and lived exclusively by the chase, 
the Tartars who spread over the greater portion 
of Western Siberia are of a pastoral character, 
having immense herds of domestic animals in 
great variety ; they will, therefore, hold the lands 
occupied by their ancestors from time immemorial 
with greater tenacity, a juster right, and firmer 
tenure. To dispossess them, therefore, will not 
be the easy problem that it was in the case of our 
own Aborigines. 

In view of these deterrent causes, it is not likely 
that the lands of Siberia will be occupied and 



238 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



developed in the quick and wholesale manner 
witnessed in our own and other new countries, 
even though the Russian government were desir- 




TOWN ON THE VOLGA RIVER 



ous of following our example, a not probable con- 
tingency. 

As the Russian is probably the most prolific 
race on the globe, an abundant supply of land 
must be kept available to meet this current want. 



INCREASE OF POPULATION 239 

since the cultivable lands of European Russia are 
already closely worked up. The present increase 
of population is reckoned at 2,000,000 per annum, 
which at the same ratio will be swelled to 3,000,- 
000 within another generation. As the unit 
requirement must be estimated at about four or 
five acres per capita, there is, therefore, in sight 
an annual requirement of from 8,000,000 to 12,- 
000,000 acres to supply this want, the annual 
reclamation of which will be in itself an achieve- 
ment of no ordinary character. 

Having due regard, therefore, for the variety of 
restraining influences and home necessities, and 
while in certain localities there may be at times 
excessive production, it does not seem probable 
that the surplus from this region, taken during a 
period of average production, will so far outrun 
the increased demand due to increased popula- 
tion as to leave such a residuum for export as 
will have any sensible effect upon western prices. 



XII 



Russian life in Siberia — Visiting various villages — Siberian towns 
and villages — Mostly frame or log houses — Efforts at ornamenta- 
tion — Number and appointment of rooms — Clothing of the 
natives — The icon — The Russian peasant most religious — In the 
peasant's home — A mark of respect never to be omitted — Cus- 
tom of recognizing the icon in Russia universal — Fare of the 
peasant — A singular bathroom — The drink of the peasant — 
Two kinds of quass — Vodka, its use and effects — Salutary regu- 
lations by the government — Worthy of imitation by other na- 
tions — Siberia the land of the exile — Erroneous impression of 
the traveller — Courtesy of Russian officials — Abolition of serf- 
dom — Its effects contrasted with abolition of slavery in America 
— Administration of justice — Respect for law and authority — 
Difficulties encountered by Russia in its development — Obstacles 
to its progress — Remarkable national development — Banish- 
ment of bank officials to Siberia — Their status during and after 
term of sentence — Punished for fraud at gaming — Not a good 
country for irregular practices — Passport system — Citizens of 
Russia required to have passport — Registration of same, fee, 
etc. — Effects of the passport system — Special passport required 
to leave Russia — Beneficial results of same. 

Having a desire to become familiar with the 
life of the lower class of Russians in Siberia, re- 
mote from the influences that centre about lines 
of railway, while in Tomsk I made a journey into 
the interior on the route to Tobolsk, which in a 
general way follows the valley of the Obi. This 



SIBERIAN TOWNS 



241 



led me through many villages of a more or less 
primitive and interesting character. 

These Siberian towns are, exclusively, mere 
assemblages of farm-houses with the usual build- 




VILLAGE IN SIBERIA, BETWEEN TOMSK AND THE YENISEI RIVER 



ings for stock, etc., and are in all respects similar 
to their prototypes in European Russia. With few 
exceptions, the dwellings and outhouses are built of 
logs, obtained from the strip of forest that fringes 
most of the rivers. Excepting in the large towns 



16 



242 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

and railway stations, I do not believe I saw a 
single building of stone or brick. Being con- 
structed generally with high, steep roofs, heavy 
cornices, and deep projections, with other crude 
efforts at ornamentation, they very often combine 
a pleasing external effect with much internal con- 
venience and comfort, being as a rule warm in 
winter and cool in summer. 

The houses are usually of three rooms : the 
kitchen, dining-room, and bed-room, the latter used 
also as a reception-room. They have plain wooden 
floors, and the furniture is of the simplest kind 
and very limited. 

One thing I noticed especially : that, while the 
clothing was coarse, the people were always warmly 
clad, the men invariably wearing high-top boots, 
made generally of leather, but often of a thick felt, 
always coming well up to the knee. 

In every house, without exception, one discovers 
in the corner of each room the ever-present little 
gilt icon, for be it remembered that the strongest 
trait of the Russian's character is his intense reli- 
eious sentiment. Unlike manv other countries, 
where it too often becomes a mere formula and 
even a convenience, with the Russian peasant es- 
pecially it is a part of his life, the very essence, 
in fact, of his inner beine. What is not the least 
fact is, that the men are even more 



DWELLING HOUSES IN VILLAGES 245 

punctilious in their observance of the formaHties 
of the church than the women. 

Although fairly comfortable lodging can be 
had at any of the post-houses on the main roads, 




DWELLING-HOUSE IN SIBERIAN VILLAGE, ON POST-ROUTE FROM TIAGA 
TO TOMSK 



I, however, preferred to stop in the humble dwell- 
ings of the peasants, whose doors are always open 
to the stranger, with a rude though sincere hos- 
pitality. 

On entering a dwelling it is a mark of respect, 



246 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



never to be omitted, to courteously recognize the 
sacred icon that always hangs conspicuously on the 
wall. This is so universal a custom that, through- 




SIBERIAN VILLAGE IN OBI VALLEY 



out Russia everywhere, in all public buildings, 
stores, banks, counting-houses, etc., the men in- 
variably uncover their heads before the icon, and 
so remain even while transactino- business. Re- 
ligion, therefore, in this country is carried contin- 



LIFE OF THE PEASANT 



247 



uously right into the active, busy current of human 
affairs and Hfe. 

I noticed that, on entering a dwelling, the house- 
wife at once went to a large chest and took out a 
carpet, which she spread carefully on the usually 




NEW A'lLLAGE IX THE A'ALLEY OF THE TOM RIVER, SIBERIA 



bare floor, and which seems to be reserved for 
important occasions. The samovar is at once 
set before you, as all Russians are inveterate tea 
drinkers. The tea is of a good quality, coming 
from China, and usually compressed in the form 
of small bricks. 

The fare of the peasant is simple but whole- 



248 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

some, usually of rye bread, though often of the most 
excellent wheaten variety, with splendid soups and 
meats. On account of the abundance of pastur- 
age in Siberia, meats of all kinds come readily 
within reach of the common people. The best 
quality of beef can be had anywhere on the Sibe- 
rian railway for a little over two cents per pound. 
Large, fine bullocks ready for the market can be 
purchased for twenty to thirty rubles, or twelve 
to eighteen dollars. A first-class milk cow brings 
only eight to fifteen rubles. A pair of young 
chickens, five to ten cents. A brace of excellent 
ducks, much like our blue-winged teal, can be had 
for ten cents, and at the railway restaurants nicely 
roasted for eighteen cents apiece. 

In almost every peasant dwelling a large baking 
oven is to be found at one end of the kitchen, 
made of thick walls of brick or some sort of 
cement composite. As it usually seemed of need- 
less size, and the door out of proportion also, and 
instead of the usual dome form was flat on top, 
my attention was so attracted that I was led to 
inquire the purpose of these peculiarities. I was 
informed that it was not only used for baking pur- 
poses, but quite often served as a hot bath as well, 
straw being spread on the oven floor — previously 
heated by fagots burned within — for the protection 
of the bather, who crawls into the open door. By 



FARE OF THE PEASANT 249 

pouring water on the heated floor, it could thus be 
quickly changed from a hot-air to a vapor bath. 
During the winter, bedding is spread on the fiat top 
of the oven, and, by maintaining a slow fire within, 
a comfortable warmth is imparted even in nights of 
extreme cold. 

Besides tea, the peasants drink large quantities 
of a beverage called quass. Of this there are two 
varieties, one extracted from a small berry much 
like the cranberry, that grows in a wild state in the 
greatest abundance. The juice of this berry is 
allowed to slightly ferment, producing a most de- 
licious and wholesome drink. Being so abundantly 
produced, it sells for only a few copecks a bottle, 
and is therefore universally used. 

Another variety of quass is made by passing hot 
water through toasted bread and allowing it to 
slightly ferment. This is in great request by the 
peasantry, being a most wholesome and not un- 
pleasant drink. 

Vodka, here as in every part of Russia, is much 
used by all classes and both sexes, old and young. 
It is distilled from grain. Being of strong alco- 
holic properties, it is highly intoxicating, and it is 
somewhat remarkable that drunkenness is not far 
more prevalent, considering the immense quantity 
consumed in Russia. Except in the larger cities, 
such as St. Petersburg and Moscow, cases of in- 



250 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

toxication are not more frequently met with than 
in Anglo-Saxon communities. 

While hastily referring to the local and personal 
proclivities and habits of these people, it may 
be well to briefly glance at some more general 
practices and customs, the result of salutary reg- 
ulations by the government. 

At every station on the Siberian railway — which, 
I believe, is true to some extent on all Russian 
railways — there is placed in front of the station, 
at a point convenient of access by the passen- 
gers, a large cask of cool water, that has been 
thoroughly boiled, and it is the duty of the sta- 
tion-master to see that a liberal supply is kept up. 
This is free to all passengers, even to the poorest 
emigrant, whose comfort and welfare are provided 
for in many ways with thoughtful care. 

In addition, an immense samovar is also placed 
in front of the station, which is kept full of 
boiling water for the use of the passengers on 
the trains. As they almost always carry a supply 
of tea with them, they are, therefore, enabled at 
any time to secure hot water, which they take into 
the train, and thus can make the desired quantum 
of tea at their leisure. 

I am also informed that in large cities like St. 
Petersburg, where the water is not of the purest, 
it is the duty of every householder, during the sum- 



A WISE REGULATION 



251 



mer, to place a suitable vessel in front of his 
house, containing boiled water, for the free use of 
the passerby. The contents of the vessel must be 
changed daily. If, upon inspection by the proper 




CASK OF WATER AT STATION ON SIBERIAN RAILWAY, SUPPLIED WITH 
BOILED WATER FOR USE OF PASSENGERS 



authorities, a supply is found wanting, or, upon 
analysis, it proves impure, the delinquent is 
severely punished. 

Were such wise reo-ulations in the o-eneral inter- 



252 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

est and welfare adopted by some other nations 
who lay claim to advantages of a superior civi- 
lization, we micjht hear less of " Maidstone 
epidemics." 

So much has been written about Siberia, "the 
land of the exile," and so many gruesome pictures 
drawn of the horrors of Russian official tyranny, 
that to the uninitiated Siberia seems a dark, for- 
bidding, and forbidden land ; so that the newly 
arrived traveller almost instinctively grasps his 
passport at the very sight of a Russian official. 

Fairness and candor compel me to say, however, 
that in no country in which I have travelled have 
I seen in the same time so little interference by the 
authorities with the current life and daily affairs of 
the people. In fact, I do not believe there exists 
in any nation a body of officials more considerate 
and courteous, or who are more attentive to the 
wishes and interests of the people, from the highest 
to the lowest station in life. 

The time was, doubtless, when an undue espion- 
age and the exercise of what was perhaps a 
despotic authority were deemed essential for the 
preservation of the government and general order, 
under which wrongs and even cruel practices 
may have arisen. But it must be remembered 
that scarcely more than one generation has passed 
since one-half of her population was suddenly 



EMANCIPATION OF THE SERF 253 

changed from a servile class into free and inde- 
pendent citizens, with newly-acquired power and 
interests, and along with them new duties and 
obligations. 

It is easy to see that a confusion resulting from 
a sudden transition that inverted an ancient polit- 
ical and social structure, might give rise to such 
conditions as to render even a stern exercise of 
authority a necessity. The wonder is, that any 
nation could survive a shock so violent and ex- 
treme, whatever might be its efforts to repress 
and control and hold in check the forces of disso- 
lution and disintegration. 

To realize fully the difficulties arising from 
changes so rapid and fundamental, we have but 
to recall the newly-created problems and difficul- 
ties in our own country — which are unfortunately 
still far from a final solution — growing out of the 
enfranchisement of a relatively few slaves. We 
may also be inclined to judge less severely other 
nations for their short-comings if we bring to 
remembrance the wrongs perpetrated by the 
Northern carpet-bag governments in the South 
during the days of reconstruction. 

Within certain limits this is, perhaps, the most 
secure and the freest country in the world; for 
while the laws are rigorously executed and pun- 
ishment is meted out with appalling certainty, the 



254 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

welfare and security of the people and govern- 
ment seem to be the prime motive in the minds 
of those who administer the law. 

All trials are conducted with careful delibera- 
tion, and with an eye to secure and subserve 
strict justice. However needless and harsh the 
administration of justice in some cases may seem 
to be, it is certain that the swift, wholesale, and 
impartial execution of their salutary laws has 
established a condition of internal peace and 
security, creating respect for authority, and a 
recognition of just reciprocal rights that is truly 
wonderful, when all thiuQ^s are considered. 

To realize this fully, we must take into account 
the vast extent of the country, the heterogeneous 
races that go to make up this great ethnical com- 
posite, with their respective rights, customs, tra- 
ditions, castes, and vested interests — the outgrowth 
of thousands of years of racial development — all 
going to make up a vast mosaic of powerful and 
conflicting races, with almost irreconcilable antag- 
onisms and interests. 

Perhaps no nation has ever had to encounter, to 
the same extent, those impediments to progress 
and stable growth arising out of the necessity of 
tearing down the old in order to build up the new — 
a dilemma so well defined by the saying that ''the 
good stands in the way of the better." In no 



PUNISHMENT OF BANK OFFICIALS 255 

nation, perhaps, has the problem of uniting a just 
government and liberal institutions with the im- 
pulse of modern change and progress been so dif- 
ficult of solution as in this great empire. That 
under these adverse conditions she has been en- 
abled to make that remarkable advance witnessed 
in the last two generations, stands as a marvel in 
the history of national development. 

This is brought to our minds with increased 
force when we recall the fact that even so small 
and compact a country as the United Kingdom, 
where a great and steady advance has long been 
made in industrial, commercial, and political life, 
ancient rights and interests and traditions have 
not as yet been reconciled with the newer order 
of things, nor have its integral parts been welded 
into a harmonious whole, as the present state 
of Ireland shows. 

On my way to Tomsk there were, among the 
passengers on the train, a man and wife, both of 
them respectable in appearance and accomplished. 
Although having the liberty of the train, their 
movements seemed under restraint, and an offi- 
cial was always hovering conveniently near. In 
a few days I learned that the man was on his 
way to Tomsk to serve out a ten years' banish- 
ment. He was formerly teller in a large bank in 
St. Petersburg, which failed disastrously some 



256 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

years ago, and he had improperly used some of its 
funds. Having been found guilty, after a search- 
ing trial lasting over two years, he was banished 
to Siberia for a term of ten years. 

While he will be allowed his liberty in that city, 
he will not be permitted, during that time, to go 
beyond its precincts. The governor of the province 
can, at his discretion, transport him at any time to 
the most remote and obscure corner of his govern- 
ment. He will be allowed no social privileges what- 
ever, and the grace of the authorities will be assured 
only by his excellent behavior. During the term 
of his sentence he will be practically deprived of all 
the rights and privileges of citizenship, and not 
allowed to engage in any business whatever. His 
business and social status after the expiration of 
his sentence will depend entirely upon his conduct 
in the meanwhile. 

After the completion of the term of his banish- 
ment he will never be permitted to visit St. Peters- 
burg, Moscow, or any other large city, seaport, or 
frontier town of the empire, and his subsequent 
engagement in business will depend wholly upon 
the decision of the authorities. 

The other officials of this unfortunate bank, 
some fifteen in number, comprising among them 
many men of great wealth and highest social posi- 
tion, were, in virtue of their more important offi- 



BANISHED TO SIBERIA 257 

cial relation to the bank, adjudged more highly 
culpable. They were, therefore, punished with 
corresponding rigor and severity. They were 
banished to various points in Siberia for a term 
of eighteen years. As many of them were of an 
advanced age, this was, in most cases, tantamount 
to a life sentence. The banishment of several 
was supplemented by two or three years at hard 
labor, which in Russia has a dismal significance. 
One was sent to Omsk, another to Tobolsk, and 
the rest scattered through Siberia in more or less 
wretched places, according to the degree of their 
crime. One, presumably the chief offender, was 
sent to Yakutsk, right in the heart of polar 
Siberia, said to be the coldest and dreariest 
place on the globe. As in the case that came 
under my notice, these condemned officials, even 
after the expiration of their sentence, will not be 
permitted to enter or visit any large city or fron- 
tier town, and cannot again engage in business, 
excepting by the grace of the authorities — a scant 
privilege that will even depend upon their deport- 
ment while serving their sentence. 

Stopping on my return westward at a town on 
the Volga, in European Russia, I went to a hotel 
to await the arrival of the steamer that was to 
take me down that river. xAs this house was a 
large one and well appointed, and as there seemed 
17 



258 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

much disorder in its management, I inquired the 
cause ; and was informed that the proprietor, a 
man of much wealth, influence, and social posi- 
tion, had just been sentenced to ten years' ban- 
ishment to Siberia, one year of which was at 
hard labor. Having departed on his melancholy 
journey only a few days before, the disordered 
state I discovered was accounted for. 

On inquiry as to the nature of the crime he had 
committed, and for which he was convicted and 
so severely punished, I was astounded to learn that 
it was for cheating at cards at the gaming-table. 

From these instances, I gathered the impression 
that Russia would not be a healthy place for the 
Hooleys of England and the professional wreckers 
of our own country to ply their profitable vocation 
of extracting money from the pockets of a confid- 
ing and trusting public, nor for the respectable 
gentlemen who so deftly lift their neighbors' money 
at baccarat. 

There is, perhaps, no country in the world where 
the passport system is so deeply grounded, or 
where it is so thoroughly carried into effect as in 
Russia. Not only is it essential, in order to gain 
admission into this country, that ever}^ foreigner 
be fortified by a passport issued by his govern- 
ment, but even every citizen of Russia is required 
to possess one and keep it conveniently at hand. 



RUSSIAN PASSPORT SYSTEM 259 

They are issued to Russian citizens for one year, 
and must be promptly renewed annually. 

The cost is from five to twenty-five rubles, ac- 
cording to the class. No one, not even a citizen 
of Russia, can go from one city or locality to an- 
other with the intention of remaining twenty-four 
hours without showing his passport. 

No sooner does one arrive at a hotel, be he na- 
tive or stranger, than his passport is called for. It 
is taken to the public headquarters and the neces- 
sary registry made, for which a registration fee of 
ten cents is required. Should any one find himself 
in any city other than his own place of residence 
even for twenty-four hours without a passport, he 
is at once detained by the police until a satisfactory 
explanation is forthcoming, If satisfaction can be 
given and proof of good citizenship be presented, a 
new passport is supplied ; otherwise the police take 
permanent charge of the delinquent and his case is 
disposed of by a more or less severe punishment. 

It is thus that .the government can keep a com- 
plete record of all its citizens, and a close watch on 
their movements. It is, moreover, an instrument 
that greatly aids in more thoroughly utilizing all 
its sources of energy, and in knitting more effec- 
tively together the potencies of national life into 
a compact, mobile whole, leaving no loose ends 
floating about. 



26o SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

As a passport is required to gain admission into 
Russia, so is one essential to gain permission to 
leave the country. Every one, foreigner or citizen, 
is obliged to show this passport on arrival at the 
frontier before he is permitted to depart from Rus- 
sia. Under these conditions, it is well nigh im- 
possible for any one in this country to pull a bank 
or wreck a railroad, and then conveniently skip 
over the border to enjoy his ill-gotten gains in 
other lands. 



XIII 

Passenger boats on the Caspian Sea — New lines of steamers — Pe- 
trovsk, on the Caspian — Excursion into the mountains — New 
railway line to Baku — Great through line to Central Asia — Im- 
portant influence of the Trans-Caspian railway upon this world's 
affairs — Extension of same into China — Distance and time by 
this route to China — Direct and short route to Northern India 
— Projected line of railway from Orenburg to Tashkent — Ambi- 
tions of Russia in a new field — Great canal between the Black 
Sea and the Baltic — Great commercial and strategic importance 
of same — Steady and persistent progress of Russia — Her ad- 
vance not rapid, but secure — Does not vaunt her enterprises 
— Effects upon political world of Trans-Caspian railway to be 
greater than the Trans-Siberian railway — New route from 
Merv to Herat — Its probable influence on Afghanistan — Pro- 
jected lines into Persia — Line being built from Armenia to 
Northern Persia— Important results to arise therefrom in that 
country — New line projected from Samarkand southward to 
Karshi — That city the key to Northeastern Afghanistan — Possi- 
bility of formidable attack of Russia upon Northern India via 
Central Asia — No combination of powers could stay it — Unim- 
portant part naval forces would play in such a contest — Rus- 
sia's contiguous territory and interior operations a manifest 
advantage — Such a conflict might require the whole power of 
Great Britain to repel — Russia's peace proposal — Her sincerity 
in same — Prefers peaceful methods to those of war — Her 
superior strategical position — May not Russia's evident advan- 
tage over India operate to preserve peace ? — The fortunate 
position of America in the event of a great Asiatic war. 

Samarkand, Central Asia, October, 1898. 
Besides numerous steam and sail vessels that 
carry on a large freight traffic on the Caspian Sea, 



262 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

there are several excellent lines of passenger 
boats, the chief one being the Kavkaz and Mer- 
cury line. This company is constantly adding 
new and well-equipped steamers to accommodate 




THE GREAT PETROLEUM CITY OF BAKU, ON THE CASPIAN SEA, IN THE 
EASTERN CAUCASUS. VIEW FROM THE BAY 



its rapidly increasing travel and traffic. The 
steamers of this line call at the larger Russian 
towns on the Caspian Sea, and also at those of 
Persia, on its southern border. 



LINES OF STEAMERS ON CASPIAN SEA 265 

The past year they have added to their fleet 
two screw vessels of about two thousand tons, 
fitted up with every modern convenience, and which 
readily make sixteen knots per hour. On one of 
these I embarked at Astrakhan for Baku, the chief 
port in the middle Caucasus. 

The first stop is at Petrovsk, the district town of 
the Daghestan. Before reaching this city, the ma- 
jestic range of the Caucasian Mountains, among the 
highest on the globe, rises into view, bearing away 
to the northwest, with the fine snow-capped peak 
of the great Kazbek just peeping above the hori- 
zon. The boat stopping here several hours, gives 
an opportunity to make a pleasant excursion into 
the foot-hills of the Daghestan Mountains, a trip 
well rewarded by what one sees among the wild, 
rude tribes that people this rugged region. 

Petrovsk, like many other towns under the in- 
fluence of Russian enterprise, is growing rapidly; 
and in virtue of its excellent port, as well as the 
position it occupies as an important intermediate 
point on the soon-to-be through Trans-Caspian 
and Central Asian route, it is destined to become 
a city of much importance. 

There is now a railroad running from Petrovsk 
to Moscow, via Vladikavkaz and Rostoff on the 
Don, and the journey can be most comfortably 
made without change in three days on a splendid 



266 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



through train, a distance of nearly two thousand 
miles. 

A road is almost completed, running along the 
shore of the Caspian Sea to Baku, a distance of 




CATHEDRAL IN BAKU 



300 miles. This is designed to connect with the 
line of steamers running across the Caspian Sea 
from the western terminus of the Trans-Caspian 
railway to Baku, making thus a direct line running 



TRANS-CASPIAN RAILWAY 267 

from Central Asia to Moscow, and thence to 
Western Europe. 

I have heretofore pointed out that results of 
the utmost commercial, industrial, and even ethi- 
cal importance to Northern and Eastern China, as 
well as to the world generally, must speedily 
follow the completion of the great Trans-Siberian 
railway, with its contemplated tributaries project- 
ing southward into China. 

In anticipation of the facts, which I will here- 
after give more in detail, of the development of 
Russian Central Asia, I would say that by a like 
policy of railway extension in that country results 
even more far-reaching in their importance to 
Southern and Western, and especially to Middle 
China, Northern India, Afghanistan, and Persia, 
will follow the completion of the main line of the 
Trans-Caspian railway, with its tributaries radiat- 
ing into those countries. At the present rapid 
rate of advance, this will be realized at no distant 
day. 

The Trans-Caspian railway is now practically 
completed from Krasnovodsk, on the eastern 
shore of the Caspian Sea, to Tashkent, the capital 
of Turkestan, near the China border, a distance of 
about 1,200 miles. With the exception, therefore, 
of the transit across the Caspian Sea, a continuous 
trip will soon be possible from Paris, or any part 



268 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

of Western Europe, to the northern confines of 
India and right up to the western border of China. 

The time now required on the Trans-Caspian 
railway is three days. It can, however, easily be 
shortened to two. The Caspian Sea may be 
crossed in fifteen hours. The distance between 
Baku and Moscow can in future be covered in less 
than three days ; so that within a year it will be 
possible to make the journey from Western China 
to Moscow within six days. 

Following this idea further, it will be among 
the possibilities within the next decade to go from 
Paris to Kokand, or Kashgar, or the central north- 
ern border of India, or even to Central China, 
within from ten days to two weeks. As the time 
now required to go from London or Paris to 
Northern India via Marseilles, the Mediterranean 
Sea, Suez, and the Indian Ocean is over three 
weeks, and the cost more than double, some con- 
ception can be formed of the great changes that 
in future are to be wrought in the trade and travel 
between Northern India, Central Asia, China, and 
European countries, when the possibilities of this 
great highway are fully realized. 

By a projection of this route from Tashkent 
into Central China, that vast region could be so 
linked with Central Europe that ten or twelve 
days might suffice for the journey. As by no 



NEW RAILWAY LINE TO TURKESTAN 271 

other possible route could that vast region be 
joined to Europe in less than double the time and 
twice the expense, it becomes apparent how much 
in future Russia will control the destiny and ma- 
terial well-being of all Asia. 

The Russian government has under contempla- 
tion the construction of yet another line, which, 
when completed, will form an additional and most 
important route between far Asiatic and Euro- 
pean countries. At Samara, on the Volga, a 
branch line separates from the main stem of the 
Trans-Siberian railway, running to Orenburg in 
Southeastern Russia. It is the purpose of the 
government to extend this line southeastward 
some 1,200 miles (around the Aral Sea), following 
up the Syr-Daria — the ancient Jaxartes — to the 
very centre of Turkestan. By this line, a. direct 
and continuous all-rail communication will be es- 
tablished between Northern Central Asia, Central 
China, and Europe. 

Having practically realized the most stupendous 
railway enterprise ever undertaken, Russia now 
seems ambitious to achieve an equally important 
and brilliant success in another field. It is noth- 
ing less than the formidable project to connect 
the Black Sea and the Baltic by a gigantic water- 
way. 

This is to be accomplished through uniting, by 



272 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

great canals, the various rivers flowing through the 
wide and intervening country, a distance of 600 or 
800 miles. They are to be constructed of such un- 
usual size and capacity that, in addition to the 
vast commercial purposes they will serve, they will 
also be used for the transit of her naval armament 
from one sea to the other, securing thus, through 
her own territory, free communication, independent 
of any international route. 

In other words, she will by this means secure 
for herself in European Russia those exclusive 
strategical advantages which the Trans-Siberian 
and Trans-Caspian railways have already given 
her in Asiatic countries. This great project has 
not as yet assumed a tangible shape, but that it 
will ultimately be carried out there can be little 
doubt, since this great nation has a way of realiz- 
ing quietly and without ostentation, yet stubbornly 
and persistently, the vast schemes she conceives, 
despite all jealous cavil and opposition. 

The boldness of conception, followed by a per- 
sistent and steady realization, of schemes of im- 
provement and development so vast and daring, 
ill accords, I am sure, with the somewhat prevalent 
idea that Russia is a non-progressive, inert, or at 
least semi-passive nation. 

Imbued to some extent with this notion, it is 
needless to say that in all my travels I have met 



GROWTH OF COMMERCE AND TRADE 273 

with few greater surprises than that of the steady 
and in many cases rapid advance in all directions 
of Russian industrial and commercial life. 

It is true that she has not, as it has too often 
occurred in other nations in their strife and mad 
craze for excessive growth and progress, devel- 
oped new, needless, and in many cases even injuri- 
ous wants, nor has she anticipated for generations 
real necessities, all of which has had the effect of 
imparting in a large measure to such nations an 
air of fiction and inflation to their national life. 

Fairness compels one to say that wherever, in 
due course and by natural growth, real wants and 
necessities arise, she meets them with commend- 
able celerity and thoroughness. Her policy seems 
to be that of fully supplying those needs that 
naturally arise and develop, rather than following 
the example of other nations, the volume of whose 
trade and industries largely consists in supplying 
unnatural and superfluous wants, artificially cre- 
ated. 

Nor is it her custom to herald abroad her pro- 
posed enterprises, or magnify the results when 
completed. Indeed, on the contrary, in some 
cases, such as her present developments in Central 
Asia, she discourages, and even represses, attempts 
to record them; and it is only the favored few 

who gain access to this almost unknown region 

18 



274 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

who acquire any knowledge of the really wondrous 
changes that are now taking place in it. 

Great as will be the effect upon the world of 
the opening of the Trans-Siberian railway system 
— a fact that is gradually being recognized — the 
Trans-Caspian railway system, when completed, 
will be productive of results even far more im- 
portant in their political and commercial conse- 
quences. 

There is a branch of the Trans-Caspian railway 
now completed, some 250 miles in length and 
running southward from Merv to Kushk, on the 
very borders of Afghanistan. It is being quietly 
extended to Herat, and it will, when completed, 
give Russia practical control of Northwestern 
Afghanistan, as Herat is the key to that country. 
This line is also projected to run further south- 
ward, through the heart of Persia down to the 
Persian Gulf, — very extensive concessions, as I 
learn, having recently been given to Russia by 
the Persian Government to build railways in that 
country. The railway that has just been con- 
structed from Tiflis, in the Caucasus, to Alexan- 
dropol and Erivan in Armenia, is to be pushed 
down the Araxes River to Tibriz, Teheran, and 
Ispahan, thus crossing in the centre of Persia, 
almost at right angles, the branch line of the 
Trans-Caspian railway running southward from 



RUSSIAN CONTROL OF AFGHANISTAN 275 

Merv via Herat. These lines, when in operation, 
will thus obviously give Russia a controlling in- 
fluence in Persia and Northwestern Afghanistan. 
A branch, also, of the main stem of the Trans- 
Caspian line is being built from Samarkand 
through Ferghan, in the direction of Kokand and 
Kashgar, in the Pamirs, almost in sight of the 
northern border of India. This line in time will, 
no doubt, be extended into Chinese Turkestan, 
and perhaps into the very centre of China itself, 
bringing thus this great and populous country 
into communication with Europe, even more di- 
rectly than by the way of the Trans-Siberian rail- 
way line. Still another most important route is 
projected to run southward from Samarkand 
some 250 miles, through Southern Bokhara, to 
Karshi, on the northwestern confines of Afghan- 
istan, and said to occupy one of the most im- 
portant strategical positions in all Asia. Karshi 
lies but a short distance northeast of Balk, which 
place was the base of Alexander's operations 
against India, and from which he made his de- 
scent upon that country. An extension of this 
line further on, toward Candahar — a quite prob- 
able thing, as the Ameer of Afghanistan is said 
to be most favorably inclined to Russia — would 
give Russia practical control of the Cabul basin 
and of the northern half of Afghanistan. As the 



276 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

Trans-Caspian railway and its tributaries, running 
to the very borders of India and through hundreds 
of miles distance, could be used if desired by 
Russia wholly for military operations against that 
country, it is apparent that she could inaugurate 
a movement in case of necessity against England's 
cherished possessions, of the most formidable and 
dangerous character. By her ample railway facili- 
ties, she could in a brief time throw along hundreds 
of miles of assailable frontier, myriads of soldiers, 
the best in the world, where they could readily be 
maintained as a perpetual menace to India. Nor 
does it seem possible for any combination of 
forces to prevent or arrest such a movement on 
the part of Russia, as no array of naval power 
could avail against the use of this system of rail- 
ways as a military instrument, lying as it does 
in the very heart of the great Slavic empire, 
and far remote from the sea. As Russia is 
pushing her projected improvements in these 
regions steadily and with vigor, it is not improb- 
able that she already feels that she controls the 
destinies of Southwestern Asia, and, even more, 
that at her leisure she can dictate to England 
what her future relations to that country shall be. 
If, unfortunately, hostilities should again arise 
between these two great powers, be the point of 
contact Port Arthur or Sebastopol, it may not be 



STRATEGICAL ADVANTAGE OF RUSSIA 277 

the privilege of England, in the event of a serious 
conflict, to choose her vantage ground, as this ad- 
vantage would lie rather with Russia. The indif- 
ference with which the latter might well look upon 
an approach by sea, would leave her free to throw 
an overwhelming force upon an interior point, and 
thus shift the scene of real conflict to a region 
where the great naval forces of her adversary- 
would be relatively of little use. By reason of the 
self-contained and self-sustaining power of Russia; 
her vast, impenetrable, and wholly contiguous ter- 
ritory, now practically conterminous with hundreds 
of miles of India's northern border; a widely rami- 
fying railway system beyond the reach of an 
enemy to interrupt, and providing ample means 
direct for transportation of troops and supplies, 
it seems probable that such an assault could be 
made by her upon India (that might be prolonged 
indefinitely) as would require the entire resources 
of England to meet and at the same time to 
preserve the peace of her none too loyal subjects 
there, whose discontent would find a stimulus in 
the near presence of a powerful ally. May we not 
find in a situation so exceptional, a position so 
obviously commanding and assured, the true sig- 
nificance of Russia's recent peace proposals ? 

May it not in reality suggest a generous desire 
on her part to aid in securing those measures 



278 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

whereby the world's great powers shall volun- 
tarily delimit their ambitions, and thus assure the 
future integrity of trade and commerce ? For, with 
the most powerful army on the globe, and holding 
a position of such rare strategical advantage, of 
which she is doubtless fully conscious, is it likely 
that she entertains any fear of the issue of a con- 
test with any possible combination, under condi- 
tions now so distinctly in her favor ? 

It Is an interesting question, well worthy of con- 
sideration, how far this manifest tactical advantage 
enjoyed by Russia will in future operate to main- 
tain peace, or will even conduce to an ultimate 
friendly relation of the two great powers, between 
whom it is difficult to discern other than a common 
interest, or at least any substantial cause to per- 
petuate hostile relations. 

If unfortunately a collision should arise on the 
lines here pointed out, with its destructive effects, 
its widespread disaster to the trade, commerce, and 
industry of all European and Asiatic peoples, our 
own country will have cause for congratulation 
that, by the fortunate position it occupies, she 
will escape the deplorable consequences that are 
certain to grow out of the entangling relations and 
alliances that harass and plague less fortunate 
nations. 



XIV 

The great city of Baku — Its rapid growth — Cause of same — Yet 
growing rapidly — The petroleum deposits in the Caucasus — 
Number of wells in operation — Limited exploration of Caucasian 
oil fields — New field north of the Caucasian range of mountains 
— Output of the oil wells in 1897 — Stories current in Baku — A 
lucky Tartar — Wonderful wells — Refineries in "Black Town," 
near Baku — Crude oil extensively used as fuel in Southern Russia 
— Desire to visit Central Asia — Importance of that country politi- 
cally — The key to India, Western China, and perhaps Constan- 
tinople — Intricacies of European politics — India the real storm 
centre — India indispensable to England's power and greatness — 
Her anxiety and efforts to preserve same — Her fear of Russia's 
designs upon India — Has relied upon her great navy — Her 
naval strength would avail but little to check Russia's advance 
through Central Asia — Russia's railway building in Asia 
regarded as a menace to India — The " gospel of the machine " — 
Russian railway advance in Asia — Desire for alliances — The 
open door — Cautious measures of Russia in her Central Asian 
possessions. 

Among the many almost miraculous creations 
of modern trade and industry, Baku deserves to 
take a conspicuous place in the list of phenomenal 
cities. In its ante-petroleum days it was merely 
one of many small and even insignificant towns 
that dotted the Caucasian shore of the Caspian 
Sea, at which an occasional sail vessel called for the 



282 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



purposes of local trade. It is to-day a great city of 
150,000 inhabitants, with large and beautiful busi- 
ness blocks, many well-paved streets, tramways, 
electric lights, telephone system, etc.; and its capa- 




OIL FIELD SOUTH OF BAKU, NEAR THE SHORE OF THE CASPIAN SEA, 
OPERATED BY ENGLISH AND FRENCH CAPITALISTS 



cious harbor is literally jammed with sail and steam 
vessels, its commerce extending to the remotest 
limits of the empire, and even far into Europe. 
It is the familiar story of a newly discovered 



THE RAPID GROWTH OF BAKU 283 

resource, so great as to cause the convergence of 
the world's energy and capital upon it. The pri- 
mary cause of its rapid growth i^, of course, the 
great petroleum interests of which it is the centre. 
But a great accession of trade and energy grows 
out of the fact that Baku is in reality the western 
terminus of the Trans-Caspian railway, the com- 
mercial forces and influences of which impinge 
full upon this fortunate city. 

Rapid as has been the growth of this queer city 
in recent years, there seems to be no abatement in 
the rate of its expansion, for everywhere great 
stone and brick edifices are being now erected, 
new streets laid out, and the old Persian, Tartar, 
and Armenian quarters, if not literally razed to 
build a new city upon, at least newly traversed by 
broad and elegant avenues. 

Nor does there seem to be a probability of an 
early limit to its rapid growth, since the petroleum 
interests of this region are as yet hardly more 
than explored. It seems to be the opinion of 
many scientists that the petroleum deposits of the 
Eastern Caucasus are the most important on the 
globe. 

As yet only two fields have been developed, 
one lying about two miles south of the city, near 
the sea level, and containing about 500 wells; 
the other some six miles north of the city, and at 



284 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



an elevation of several hundred feet above the 
level of the sea, containing about 1,200 wells. In 
all, therefore, there are at present some 1,800 wells 
tributary to Baku. 




OIL FIELD NORTHWEST OF BAKU, SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET ABOVE THE 
SEA LEVEL, OPERATED BY SWEDISH AND FRENCH CAPITALISTS 



The first mentioned field is being largely 
worked by English capital, and the latter by Noe- 
bel, the Swedish discoverer of dynamite, and the 



EXTENT OF PETROLEUM FIELDS 285 

Rothschilds. New wells are beine sunk in ereat 
numbers, and the road from Baku to the northern 
field, a distance of six miles, is almost literally im- 
passable, so crowded is it with teams hauling great 
boilers and other machinery destined for the use 
of new wells or those in course of preparation. 

But comparatively little testing has been done 
to determine the true extent of the oil fields of 
the Caucasus, but enough to establish the fact that 
they cover the greater portion of the Eastern 
Caucasus and extend even into Northern Persia. 
Quite a promising field has been opened the past 
three or four years on the northern slope of the 
Caucasian Mountains, midway between Petrovsk 
and Vladikavkaz. 

From Baron von der Hoven, the head of the 
statistical department for Eastern Caucasus, I 
learned that this industry was rapidly on the in- 
crease. The output of crude oil last year was 
nearly 2,000,000,000 gallons. In 1891 there were 
fifteen refineries, producing 80,000,000 gallons 
of refined oil. 

The same marvellous stories are current here of 
the sudden transition from extreme poverty to 
great wealth, that embellished the history of 
Western Pennsylvania in the ''Coal Oil Johnny" 
days. You are told of the wretchedly poor Ar- 
menian or lucky Tartar, the possessor of a tract 



286 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

of land so miserably sterile that a whole acre 
would not yield subsistence for a handful of grass- 
hoppers, who found himself suddenly possessed of 
wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. 

A Tartar was pointed out to me who a few years 
ago was pounding stone on the street for a living, 
and is now said to be worth 25,000,000 rubles. 

The interested traveller is also expected to be 
astonished by the usual stories about the wonder- 
ful performance of some spouter or gusher that 
has broken the record. I was shown a well be- 
longing to the Rothschilds, which while now only 
an ordinary producer, is said to have once spouted 
for months at a time at the astounding rate of 
nearly 2,000,000 gallons a day. 

Along the bay, in the northeast part of the city, 
are located the laro^e refineries of Noebel and the 
Rothschilds, which alone have created quite a city, 
called " Black Town." 

This immense deposit of oil is destined to be a 
source of great wealth to Russia. Besides sup- 
plying a large quantity for export, it is used in a 
crude form for fuel throughout much of the em- 
pire. The steamboats on the Don, Volga, and 
other rivers, on the Caspian Sea, and to some 
extent also in the Black Sea, as also almost all the 
railways in Southeastern Russia, use the crude oil 
exclusively for fuel. 



DESIRE TO VISIT CENTRAL ASIA 289 

I confess that for years I have cherished an 
ardent desire to visit Central Asia and the ancient 
cities of Merv, Bokhara, and Samarkand, about 
which to my youthful imagination such a halo of 
romance was thrown by Alexander the Great, and 
which, in more modern times, was the seat of that 
mighty Tartar power under Zinghiz Khan and 
Tamerlane ; a region, too, that once was so famous 
in the annals of literature and of art. 

The vague expectation of being able to obtain 
a permit to see this interesting country was one 
of the incentives to my visiting the Caspian region 
at this time. Perhaps no country, excepting some 
portions of China, has been so long excluded from 
the world, and into which admission was so diffi- 
cult, as Central Asia. Indeed, the Bokharian por- 
tion of it records but one authenticated visit by a 
European previous to this century, and it is only 
in comparatively recent years that other than a few 
Russian officials have gone into this sealed land. 

Great as was the part that Central Asia played 
in the past in the world's affairs, she seems destined 
to play indirectly the same role in scarcely a less 
degree, since it is fast becoming the key to West- 
ern China and Southern Asia, Afghanistan and 
Persia, and may even yet point the way to Con- 
stantinople. 

To those at all familiar with the intricacies of 
19 



290 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

European politics, and who study its delicate ad- 
justments, it is apparent that no matter what dis- 
turbance of the political atmosphere there may be 
in the Balkans, on the Nile, in Turkey, or Pales- 
tine, or even the Baltic, for the most part the real 
storm centre can be sought for and found in India. 

England, it seems, has come to regard the reten- 
tion of that country as synonymous with her na- 
tional prosperity and supremacy, and, in truth, were 
she to lose it, she would at once descend to a sec- 
ond-rate power. In view of this, for a century she 
has artfully contrived to create and maintain a 
system of national checkmates in Europe, to safe- 
guard her Indian possessions and subserve her 
cherished purposes elsewhere. Whatever might 
be the aims, desires, and abilities of other nations, 
she has chosen to regard Russia as her natural 
enemy, and the one nation filled with a covetous 
desire for this her choicest possession. 

The extreme sensitiveness displayed by this 
great nation — which upon all other questions pre- 
serves such an admirable equipoise — whenever 
Russia makes the least movement eastward, pre- 
sents a strange spectacle. No matter what that 
nation may do, she seems to regard every incident 
and event, however remote, to which Russia is re- 
lated, as a direct menace to India. 

Every now and again, some apocryphal story 



ENGLAND'S ANXIETY FOR INDIA 291 

flashes athwart the British press about Russia's 
sinister designs in Central Asia. If it be reported 
that she is building a railway toward Herat or the 
Pamirs, a common road in the direction of Persia, 
or if some Russian officer should chance to turn 
his binoculars toward the Afghan mountains, 
fear seems to seize this stalwart nation, and a note 
of alarm is sounded that India is threatened. 

Having long chosen to regard Russia as hold- 
ing traditional designs on India, and having 
adopted the rather singular view that the Medi- 
terranean was to be the road to that coveted land, 
it was this that caused her to create her immense 
naval armament to patrol that sea, as a means of 
insuring the safety of her Indian possessions. 
Now that Russia, by a system of railways in her 
own possessions, is approaching the very border 
of India, by which, if she chooses to do so, she 
can throw the weight of her empire against upper 
India, we can find in this new situation a reason- 
able excuse for England's present anxiety, seeing 
that her mighty ironclads, created at so much 
pains and at so great an expense, are likely to 
prove about as effective in preventing the ap- 
proach of Russia in this more vulnerable direc- 
tion, as so much old junk. 

Into what strange and erratic courses such fear 
can lead a nation, in so many ways the greatest and 



292 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

most admirable, is signally illustrated by a recent 
occurrence. When the Czar made his late pro- 
posal of disarmament — a scheme so beneficent that 
it might well call down upon the head of the 
young ruler the praises and blessings of all lovers 
of peace and humanity — some of the leading 
papers of England, that direct and mould public 
sentiment, made the counter proposal, that before 
giving it consideration, Russia should be asked, 
as a pledge of her sincerity, to cease building 
railways in China and Central Asia. 

This proposition, to say the least, is an astound- 
ing one, coming as it did from a nation that justi- 
fies its occupation of India, and the conquest of 
unoffending African races, mainly on the ground 
that these people will thereby receive the bene- 
fits of railways and other blessings of a new 
civilization. 

Strangely enough, this ''gospel of the machine" 
seems to be spreading apace, and may yet supplant 
that of the "meek and lowly." However sound it 
may seem to be in the abstract, or whatever may 
be the present results of its practical application, I 
doubt if the world is yet prepared to accept the 
full consequences of a doctrine so grossly material, 
as that the immunity of any nation from wanton 
and unprovoked assault by other nations is to be 
measured by its readiness to accept and its capac- 



DESIRE FOR ALLIANCES 293 

ity to consume the modern products of the mine 
and the loom. 

The many evidences during the past year of the 
rapidity with which Central Asia was being Rus- 
sianized, and the equally rapid advance of her 
great railway towards an open seaport on the 
Pacific at Port Arthur, with its contemplated col- 
lateral branches into China, have in the past few 
months quickened England into increased efforts 
to check or obstruct the movements of her great 
adversary, which, however local or domestic they 
may in reality be, she regards as having an object 
personal to herself. 

It is not the least singular fact in this connec- 
tion that she seems to lack confidence in her own 
unaided abilities, as her search for alliances would 
appear to indicate. In her desire to compass this, 
with a rare inconsistency, the tempting bait of 
'* open door trade " is proffered to nations who 
long have been, and are likely long to remain, 
irrevocably committed to a ''closed door policy" 
far more rigid in character than that of Russia. 
Naturally enough, as a foil to these obstructive 
efforts, Russia retorts with protective measures of 
extreme caution and vigilance, even to placing a 
partial though temporary interdict upon her Cen- 
tral Asian possessions. 



XV 



Admission into Trans-Caspian country — Military railway — Special 
permit necessary in Trans-Caspian region — Across Northern 
Persia — On tlie Araxes River — First view of Mt. Ararat — Cross- 
ing the Araxes — Mt. Ararat — Grandeur of same — Ascent of 
Ararat — Armenian cemetery — Across the Araxes Valley — Eri- 
van, the capital of Armenia — Mosques, palaces, etc. — Change 
under Russian rule — New railway line south of Erivan — Mar- 
kets in Erivan — The great-tailed sheep — On the road to the 
Caucasus — Last view of Mtt Ararat — Curious religious sects — 
Picturesque Lake of Goktcha — Height above the sea— The an- 
cient monastery ofSevanga — Over the Delijan Pass — Descent of 
northern slope of Armenian mountains — Arrival at Akstafa on 
the Kura River. 

Many curious stories are afloat at Baku respect- 
ing the various attempts of would-be English tour- 
ists to gain admission into the Trans-Caspian 
country. Relying upon the sufficiency of their 
passports, they cross the Caspian Sea only to find 
themselves summarily and promptly sent back 
again. Having this in mind, I called upon the 
governor of Baku for permission to go over the 
Trans-Caspian railway to Samarkand and Tash- 
kent. 

I might add here that this railway is purely a 
military one, undertaken and built by Russia for 



TRANS-CASPIAN RAILWAY 



295 



the purpose of securing her interests in Central 
Asia, and is operated by the Ministry of War. I 
was, however, informed at Merv that as soon as 
the branches that are being built into Turkestan, 
Feraghan, and to the Afghan border are com- 





.• ». 


_^,,.i5 -•*.•, ' 


• 'l^^^^i::^^^^'' 




.*." "• 




^ .->«^«P ..■««Sl!'^5,^-'»C^- 






4^ ' 


f* ■ ,' "■:'^ \i 


X^^^ 






M 


1 l^i^: 




li 


m 


iSji 


»# *4-*U-^-Hf 


^^^H 


L 


■ v .j:±zM 


m 


l« 


i i 


JDOSOOS 




"r,TTT'^ 






» 1 , ,.„l,. , ,. 


mm 



INTERIOR OF THE ANCIENT PALACE OF THE VICEROYS OF PERSIA IN 

ERIVAN 



pleted, the road will be handed over to the civil 
authorities to be operated by the Ministry of Rail- 
ways, becoming thus, like all other railroads in this 
country, freely open to all, and to general trade 
purposes. This is expected to be done within the 
next year. 



296 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

The official to whom I applied, while admitting 
the present extreme precautions of his govern- 
ment, replied that whatever limitations might be 
placed upon the movements of others, the Ameri- 
can was always privileged and welcome to freely 
travel in any portion of the empire, merely upon 
the passport of his government. He, however, 
significantly added that to insure perfect freedom 
and unrestrained facilities for travel, it would be 
well to secure a special permit from the Minister 
of the Interior, he himself having no authority to 
issue one. This could be readily done, he assured 
me, by letter or personal application to the Minis- 
ter at St. Petersburg. Finding that this would 
consume nearly a month, and not caring to under- 
take a trip so full of hardships, with no certainty 
of having the necessary freedom to see the desired 
objects of interest there, I reluctantly abandoned 
the journey. 

Taking the boat for Lenkoran, 100 miles south 
of Baku, I crossed through Northern Persia to the 
Araxes River, which forms the boundary between 
that country and Russia. Following up this river, 
I reached the small town of Nakhchivan, which 
means in Persian ''the first descent," and is sup- 
posed to be the first resting place of Noah, 
after leaving the ark. While there I was shown 
a veritable piece of the true ark, which I ad- 



CROSSING THE ARAXES RIVER 



297 



mired with much interest and becoming rev- 
erence. 

Following the river mentioned, we passed the 




CARAVAN CROSSING THE ARAXES RIVER, ON THE BORDERS OF RUSSIA 
AND PERSIA, EN ROUTE FOR ERIVAN, ARMENIA 



little Ararat, a beautifully pointed mountain . of 
12,000 feet in heieht. The road follows some- 
what closely the course of the Araxes, which, 
throughout much of its length, constitutes the 



298 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



boundary between Persia and Russia. This road 
is the great highway that joins Northern Persia to 
the Caucasus and Europe. At Kamerlu there is a 
branch road that leads westward to Aralykh, at 




ON TKE BANKS OF THE ARAXES RIVER, FORMING THE BOUNDARY 
BETWEEN RUSSIA AND PERSIA 



the base of the Great Ararat. This is a miHtary 
post, where a great number of Cossacks are per- 
manently quartered, and it is from this point that 
the ascent of Mt. Ararat is made. About midway 







1 






'^^^^m 






S 


i i^i .'^ .,j0^ 


m 










^■^'JBI 




4 




M 


B 


-V^^- 


. -*# v.. 






I 


L 


/ <j^. ^ , „ - '' ,■-• - 


^^^^^^ 


m 





GREAT AND LITTLE ARARAT 



301 



between Kamerlu and Aralykh, a distance of about 
ten miles, the Araxes River is crossed on a primi- 
tive ferry. 

After that, we came upon the real Ararat of 




IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARAXES RIVER. LITTLE AND GREAT ARARAT 
MOUNTAINS IN THE DISTANCE 

Scripture and history, one of the most beautiful 
and stately of mountains, and about 17,000 feet 
in heieht. I have seen most of the celebrated 
mountains of the globe, but of them all none 



302 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

presents a more imposing appearance than Ararat, 
viewed from the Araxes that washes its very 
base. Most lofty mountains are so situated that 




DISTANT VIEW OF MT. ARARAT 



the summit can be seen only at a great distance, 
or else after much of its height has been reached. 
The summit of Ararat, hov/ever, can be seen from 
its very base, at a point only a few hundred feet 



MOUNT ARARAT 305 

above the level of the sea and at a distance as the 
bird flies of less than twenty miles. 

The mountain, therefore, rises directly before 
you to a height of over three miles in a wonder- 
fully impressive manner. By reason of its near- 
ness, its perfect symmetry, the everlasting mantle 
of snow that envelops the summit, all viewed 
through the transparent atmosphere of this re- 
gion, it becomes, perhaps, the most satisfactory 
mountain view on the globe. 

The northern face has a very striking resem- 
blance to that of Mount Etna, having a deep de- 
pression much like the val del bovo of that moun- 
tain. I did not go to the summit, as it is a most 
fatiguing trip, requiring several days. As this 
region is infested with numerous and dangerous 
bands of brigands and robbers, those who visit the 
summit are provided by the government, for their 
protection, with ten or a dozen Cossacks from the 
barracks located at the foot of the mountain, where 
there are always quartered several regiments of 
these celebrated soldiers. 

Soon after leaving the small town of Agham- 
zaly, I noticed at a short distance from the 
roadside quite a number of natives, dressed in 
varied costumes bright in their richness of colors. 
They were in an open space, literally covered with 
great round boulders scattered irregularly about. 



3o6 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

On coming closer I discovered that it was a 
cemetery, and some important memorial service 
was being held. The stones, simply of a natural 
form and obtained from the hills nearby, served 
to mark the locality of the many graves. There 
was no enclosing wall or other protection for the 
cemetery. I was much impressed by the striking 
contrast of the rich, even gaudy, coloring of their 
costumes with the solemn occasion and sombre 
surroundings. 

Cutting across the valley of the Araxes, we 
reached the ancient city of Erivan, the capital of 
Armenia. It is located on the Zanga River, an 
affluent of the Araxes, which it enters some 
twenty miles below, in the direction of Mt. Ararat. 
Erivan is full of half-ruined and what must have 
been exquisitely beautiful mosques, decayed pal- 
aces, ancient fortresses, and other reminders of 
its former Mohammedan masters. Many changes 
have occurred under Russian rule, greatly modern- 
izing the city. Wide streets, spacious parks, 
handsome public buildings, Christian churches, 
etc., attest the presence of a new master. 

On my way northward, I noticed the govern- 
ment was busily engaged in surveying a railway 
line down the valley of the Araxes. Persia is, no 
doubt, the southern objective point of this road, 
and it seemed to be heading for Tibriz. As Rus- 



RUSSIAN RAILWAYS IN PERSIA 



309 



sia has recently received from Persia extensive 
concessions, this, no doubt, is the initial line from 
the north into that country. This road is to join, 
at Alexandropol, the one now almost completed 




COSSACK CAVALRYMEN ON THE ROAD TO MT. ARARAT 



from Tiflis to that city. As the Trans-Caucasian 
railway runs from Tiflis to Batoum on the eastern 
shore of the Black Sea, this new line will ultimately 
form a continuous route from Central Persia to 



310 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Europe through Armenia, the Caucasus, and the 
Dardanelles. A future network of railways by 
Russia into Persia and Afghanistan will no doubt 
be a natural sequence to her network of railways 
in Central Asia. 

While in Erivan I visited the markets there, of 







WBH^»a.- 




RETURNING FROM MT. ARARAT 



which there are several most Important and highly 
interesting. The soil along the Zanga and Araxes 
rivers, being simply the washings or detritus of 
the enclosing volcanic mountains, Is therefore of 
an extremely fertile nature. It much resembles 
the volcanic soils around Naples and in the vicinity 
of Mt. Vesuvius, being somewhat similarly formed. 



VEGETABLE PRODUCTS OF ARMENIA 311 

The many streams descending from the moun- 
tains give an abundant supply of water for irriga- 
tion, which is carried by a great network of canals 
and ditches throughout these rich and beautiful 




PERSIAN CART OR AREA 



valleys. Vegetables, therefore, not only grow 
there in the greatest profusion, but also in great 
variety. Almost every kind that is natural to a 
temperate climate can be found in the markets, and 
also many that are distinctly of a tropical nature. 



312 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



I found there what was the finest specimen I 
have ever seen of that singular animal known as 
the ''fat-tailed sheep," so often met with in Afri- 
can and Asiatic countries. Whether by gradual 




MARKET SCENE IN ERIVAN. GREAT FAT-TAILED SHEEP 



changes through domestication or by natural pro- 
cesses this extraordinary appendage has been de- 
veloped, it is difficult to determine. It consists 
of two great lobes of fatty matter springing from 
the body of the animal on each side of the tail, 





^^^1 




■^^3M 


»^ 






^Bii i ' 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B 


-j^S||B 


plp^ ^ 


v^^^^^^H 




^^lt^^ I . 




^^^H 


^^^^^^II^JH^£^~T 


-^^Ih 




^HHL>^ 






^^_ 


^H^H 




H 





VIEW OF ARARAT FROM ERIVAN 315 

which is so completely embedded in it that it no 
longer possesses either the appearance or, function 
of that useful member. So enormously is this pe- 
culiar growth developed in some cases that it al- 




VIEW OF MT. ARARAT, LOOKING SOUTHWARD FROM ERIVAN, THE 
CAPITAL OF ARMENIA 



most trails upon the ground. It is generally from 
25 to 30 pounds in weight, but 40 to 50, and even 
60, pounds are not uncommon. It is of an exceed- 
ingly delicate nature, more resembling marrow-fat 



3i6 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

than any other substance, and it is much prized 
for culinary purposes. It is largely used for soups 
throughout the country where the animal is bred, 
producing a most savory and agreeable article of 




NEW MOSQUE OF HUESSIN ALT KHAN IN ERIVAN 

diet. This variety of sheep, besides being large 
and yielding an excellent kind of mutton, pro- 
duces a heavy fleece of wool of fine quality. 

Possessing so many desirable qualities, I have 
often wondered why some effort has not been made 



GREAT-TAILED SHEEP 319 

to introduce it into our own country. It would, 
no doubt, be possible to do so, as it seems to adapt 
itself to almost all climatic and physical conditions, 
for I have met with it from the hot, arid plains of 




ANCIENT MOHAMMEDAN MOSQUE IX ERIVAN 

Nubia, Abyssinia, Egypt, and Central Asia, to the 
cold, humid atmosphere of the Himalayan and 
Altai mountains. 

Taking the main road that leads in the direction 



320 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



of Alexandropol, I reached, via the DeHjan Pass 
and Lake Goktcha or Sevanga, the interesting and 
beautiful city of Tiflis, the capital of Georgia, pict- 




A DUKOBORTSI VILLAGE — A RELIGIOUS SECT IN NORTHERN ARMENIA — ON 
THE ROAD FROM ERIVAN TO TIFLIS 



uresquely located on the Kura River, directly in 
the midst of the Caucasian Mountains. The road 
after leaving Erivan passes through a highly vol- 
canic region, being for the most part over ancient 



LAST VIEW OF ARARAT 



323 



lava beds. At the distance of some thirty miles, 
we reach the summit of the mountain range that 
divides the valleys of the Zanga and Araxes rivers 




THRESHING GRAIN IN AR:*IENIA. GRAIN IS TRODDEN OUT BY HORSES 
BEING DRIVEN OVER IT 



from the more elevated plateau in the region of 
Elnofka. 

From this summit we obtain our last view of 
Mt. Ararat, some sixty or seventy miles south- 
ward. The grand peaks of the Alagoz and Ak- 
Dagh, rising on either hand to the height of 14,- 
000 and 12,000 feet respectively, lend some charm 



324 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

to the dreary aspect of this wild, desolate region. 
All along this route we passed with rapid fre- 
quency through the rude villages of the man}^ sin- 
gular religious sects scattered through this part 




LITTLE ISLAND IN LAKE GOKTCHA, ON WHICH THE ANCIENT MONASTERY 
OF SEVANGA IS LOCATED 



of Armenia : the Dukobortsi, Skoptsy, Molokani, 
etc. 

At Elnofka we first meet the remarkably pict- 
uresque little lake of Goktcha, along whose rugged 
shores the road winds at a great elevation for 
some ten or twelve miles, until the Delijan Pass is 



LAKE GOKTCHA 



325 



reached. This lake is situated 7,000 feet above 
the sea. It is some forty miles in length and 
twenty in breadth. The trout caught here are 




SKOPTSY VILLAGE — A PECULIAR RELIGIOUS SECT WITH REMARKABLE 
CUSTOMS — IN NORTHERN ARMENIA 



celebrated throughout Russia for their superior 
quality, and great quantities are shipped even as 
far as St. Petersburg. 



326 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



In the lake, at a distance of a few hundred feet 
from the shore, and on an island of perhaps fifty 
acres in extent, is located the ancient Armenian 




ON THE ROAD TO LAKE SEVANGA, IN NORTHERN ARMENIA, AND ON THE 
ROUTE FROM ELNOFKA TO AKSTAFA 



monastery of Sevanga, reputed to have been 
founded in the very beginning of the fourth 
century. At Delijan the highest point on the 
route is reached, at an elevation of over 7,000 



DESCENT INTO THE KURA VALLEY 327 

feet. From here a most excellent road sharply 
descends to the northward, through mountain 
scenery nowhere surpassed, until the little town 
of Akstafa is reached in the rich valley of the 
Kura River. 




ON THE NORTHERN SLOPE OF THE LESSER CAUCASIAN MOUNTAINS, AFTER 
LEAVING THE DELIJAN PASS 



XVI 

The Caucasus — Its locality and extent — The Kura River — The Rion 
River — Area of the Caucasus — Population of the same — Moun- 
tain ranges — The Greater and Lesser Caucasian Mountains 
joined by the Suram range — Climate of Caucasia — Products of 
the soil — Statistics of live stock — Valleys in Eastern Caucasus — 
Western Caucasia — Roads — Military road from Tifiis to Vladi- 
kavkaz — Roads in Southern Caucasia and Armenia — Caucasia 
the gateway between Europe and Asia — Different races — Tiflis, 
the capital of Georgia — Its buildings, streets, etc. — The Georgian 
chieftain, Schemyl — The population of Tiflis — Many military 
and civil officials — A trip to Borjom, Abbas-Tuman, and Kutais. 

What is known as the Caucasus Is the great 
isthmus, some 500 miles wide, extending east 
and west between the Caspian and Black seas, 
and joining the continents of Asia and Europe, 
comprising some ten or a dozen governments 
and provinces of Russia. Running through its 
centre eastward, is the Kura River, having its 
source in the Lesser Caucasian range of moun- 
tains on the extreme southwest part of the coun- 
try. Flowing through the narrow defiles of the 
rugged mountains for the space of several hun- 
dred miles, its valley gradually widens beyond 
Tiflis until it becomes a vast level plain, forming 



AREA AND POPULATION 331 

a border of a hundred miles or more upon the 
western shore of the Caspian Sea. 

The Rion River runs westward, in a similar way, 
from the middle of the Caucasus into the Black 
Sea. These valleys, therefore, divide this great 
isthmus in an east and west direction into two 
sections, the northern valley formed by the Great 
Caucasian chain of mountains, with an average 
altitude of nearly 12,000 feet, and the southern 
one formed by the mountains of Armenia, of 
much less height. 

The whole contains about 180,000 square miles, 
and has a population of quite 7,000,000. It lies, 
in almost equal parts, in Europe and Asia. That 
portion lying south of the Great Caucasian range 
is called the Trans-Caucasus, or Asiatic Caucasia, 
and it contains about five-sevenths of the whole 
population. The Suram range of mountains, run- 
ning north and south about midway in the great 
isthmus, thus connects the two chains of moun- 
tains on the northern and southern borders. It 
is from this divide that the waterflow is eastward 
by the Kura River into the Caspian Sea, and to 
the west by the Rion River into the Black Sea. 

The climate of the Caucasus is a genial one, in 
fact almost subtropical ; snow rarely falls in the 
valleys or in the lower levels, although the sum- 
mit of the whole majestic range of Caucasian 



332 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Mountains, owing to their great height, is per- 
petually covered by great masses of ice and snow. 
This great height of the main chain of moun- 
tains, as well as its many branches, gives to this 




STREET SCENE IN TIFLIS 



country a remarkable diversity of soil, climate, and 
vegetable production. The mountains supply ex- 
cellent pasturage for cattle and sheep, of which 
there are to be seen great herds everywhere. I 



PRODUCTION OF GRAIN 



335 



believe there are in the Caucasus over 1,000,000 
horses, 6,000,000 cattle, and 15,000,000 sheep and 
goats. 

The valleys are exceptionally fertile, and pro- 




STREET SCENE IN TIFLIS 



duce immense crops of wheat and other cereals. 
The broad valleys in the eastern part, however, 
have a deficient rainfall, and therefore but little of 
that great tract of land is cultivated. But as the 



336 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Kura River bisects it through its entire length, 
and would yield an ample supply of water to irri- 
gate the entire valley, a large, and one of the most 



*"^rfl| ^y ^ 




VALLEY OF THE KURA RIVER, ABOUT ONE HUNDRED MILES EAST OF 
TIFLIS, AND IN THE VICINITY OF AKSTAFA 



productive, regions on the globe could readily be 
reclaimed, which would be well suited for the cul- 
ture of wheat, Indian corn, and, in fact, all the 
cereals, as well as grapes of unusual quality. 



ROADS IN THE CAUCASUS 339 

The western slope of the Caucasus, watered by 
the Rion, having ample rainfall, constitutes what is 
perhaps the richest tract of land in all Russia. The 
vegetable products of this section are unequalled 
in excellence and variety. Indian corn grows here 
and matures as perfectly as in America, and a great 
surplus is annually raised for export. 

From the rugged and almost insurmountable 
nature of the Great Caucasian chain of mountains, 
this country has but few roads, the main one be- 
ing the Georgian military road leading over the 
Dariel Pass, at a height of nearly 8,000 feet, from 
Vladikavkaz to Tiflis. There is another good road 
from Kutais to Vladikavkaz, and from the former 
city over the Lesser Caucasian range to Abbas- 
Tuman and Borjom. There are also the military 
roads runnine southward from Tiflis toward the 
northern border of Persia, via the Delijan Pass 
to Erivan and Djulfa, and also via Alexandropol 
to Kars. 

With a few bridle paths, such as the famous one 
from Derbent on the Caspian Sea to Tiflis, one 
might say a fairly complete record would be given 
of the facilities for travel through the mountains 
of this rugged though picturesque country. 

Having long been the gateway between Asia 
and Europe through which the ebb and flow of 
many races continued for centuries, this has nat- 



340 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



urally become a region of the most diverse eth- 
nical characteristics. Perhaps in no other country 
in the world, covering so small a space, can there 
be found so many different races and tribes. 



m M^l ll.^BBiB 








^^Aitf^^^ W '^^« ^B ««<^^^^^^l 


^^H^^^H^H/w^'ll 




^H^^H|N li 


IJIIIIIP^I^^II^^^^^^^B 


^^^^^^^^^^H' 






ik 





CAUCASIANS AND THEIR COSTUMES 



While some are of the very lowest order, there 
are others that rank as the noblest and grandest 
of the human family. This is particularly true of 
Mingrelia and Imeritia, where perhaps the finest 



STREETS AND BUILDINGS IN TIFLIS 343 

specimens of the human race can be found. In 
these two provinces the women full)/ justify their 
traditional reputation for beauty, while many ex- 




THE THEATRE IN TIFLIS 



amples can be found among the men that are not 
equalled anywhere on the globe. 

Tiflis has many wide, beautiful avenues and 
streets, well paved, and often bordered by rows of 
ornamental trees. There are many lines of tram- 
ways, and the streets are filled with excellent 



344 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



and comfortable cabs and other vehicles. It has 
many grand public buildings and business blocks. 
The palace of the governor of this province is a 
stately and ornate structure. A large and well- 



^ .«-ip||M 






mm'-m^ 




HB^^^l^^^^^^^^^^^BI 



MOUNTED COSSACKS IN PUBLIC SQUARE IN THE CITY OF TIFLIS 



appointed theatre is located on one of the main 
avenues. 

On one of the many rugged mountain heights 
that gird the city, the ruined battlements where 
the famous Georgian chieftain, Schemyl, made his 
last stand in defence of his country, still engage 
the attention of the traveller. 



CAPITAL OF THE CAUCASUS 



345 



The Kura River, dividing the city into two nearly 
equal parts, and winding in a deep and sinuous 
gorge through it, not only provides means for excel- 




A BAZAAR IN THE PERSIAN QUARTER IN THE CITY OF TIFLIS 



lent drainage, but gives in many places a charming 
aspect to the streets and city. Being the seat of 
government for the Caucasus, there is a large resi- 
dent military class here, as well as numerous civil 



346 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



officials and also many representatives of the 
nobility. 

Resting a day or two, and visiting the many ob- 




STREET SCENE IN THE PERSIAN QUARTER IN TIFLIS 



jects of interest in and about the city, I made an 
excursion to Borjom and Abbas-Tuman, in the 
Southern Caucasus. This is a region of vast 
parks and hunting preserves, as it is the sum- 



TO BORJOM AND KUTAIS 



347 



mer home of the Grand Duke Michael, the Grand 
Duke George — the Crown Prince — and the Grand 
Duchess Xenia, together with innumerable other 
court satellites and dignitaries. 




STREET IN THE PERSIAN QUARTER OF TIFLIS 



Going over one of the wildest and most solitary 
passes in the world, where for safety an escort of 
soldiers is provided much of the way, we reached 
Kutais, located in one of the most fertile of val- 



348 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

leys, where Indian corn, all the cereals, and fruits 
of every variety grow in the greatest luxuriance 
and abundance. It was the ancient Cyta, the capi- 
tal of the Colchis of the Greeks, whence Jason and 
his freebooting band went in quest of the " Golden 
Fleece." 



XVII 

Tiflis to Mtskheta — Great antiquity of that city — Founded by near 
descendant of Noaii — Interesting old bridge — Pompey's con- 
quest of this country — Route over the famous Dariel Pass — 
Journey up the valley of the Kura River — ^Soil and climate of 
the Caucasus — Agricultural operations — Various cereals and 
other products — Indian corn — Primitive implements — Cattle 
and buffaloes used to draw the plough — Cooperative operations — 
Remarkable results in the production of grain in the Caucasus 
— The cart or arba — The new line of the Trans-Caucasian rail- 
way — Petroleum pipe line over Suram Mountains — On the road 
to Borjom — From Borjom to Abbas-Tuman — Over the Lesser 
Caucasian Mountains — Soldiers for escorts — Brigands — Magnifi- 
cent view from summit — Kutais — Its history and importance — 
Rich valley of the Rion — Return to Tiflis. 

The railway, after leaving Tiflis, follows some- 
what closely the course of the Kura River until it 
reaches the small town of Mtskheta. This old city 
is reputed to be the most ancient in all Caucasia; 
indeed, the local chronicler in his pride assigns it 
the very first place in antiquity, claiming that it is 
the oldest city in the world, having been founded, 
as is alleged, by a descendant of Noah only five 
generations removed. Its quaint appearance and 
its old churches and palaces do, indeed, stamp it 
as of very ancient origin, and the ruined fortresses 



350 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



that cover the adjacent mountains fully attest its 
once great strategical importance. 

Near the town there is a bridge over the Kura, 




GENERAL VIEW OF TIFLIS, FROM ELEVATION IN WESTERN PART OF THE 
CITY, LOOKING EASTWARD 



in which can be found old buttresses that evidently 
belonged to a structure of very remote times. 
It is said to be a part of the bridge thrown 
across that river by Pompey the Great, when in 



CONQUEST BY POMPEY THE GREAT 351 

pursuit of Mithridates. This powerful monarch 
ruled well and happily over a vast region in the 
East, including what is now the Caucasus, until 
Rome became seized with the generous desire to 




'-'«it> 






ON THE KURA RIVER, IN THE WESTERN SUBURBS OF TIFLIS, ON THE ROAD 

TO BORJOM 

include his splendid possessions within the sphere 
of her beneficent influence, and which finally 
shared the fate of that great empire when her 
policy of grab ultimately brought inevitable ruin. 



352 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

Here the Aragya, a small river, enters the Kura 
from the north, after flowing through a deep, nar- 
row, and rugged canyon. It is up the valley of 
this river that the military road from Tiflis to Vlad- 




IN THE KURA VALLEY, BETWEEN TIFLIS AND MTSKHETA 

ikavkaz runs, until it crosses the summit of the 
Caucasian Mountains, near Mleti, over the famous 
Dariel Pass, at an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet. 
There are many most charming bits of mountain 



VALLEY OF THE KURA RIVER 



355 



and landscape scenery in the neighborhood of 
Mtskheta. From this place the railway continues 
its western course — the valley of the Kura in the 



;i 




IN THE VALLEY OF THE ARAGYA, ON THE MILITARY ROAD OVER THE 
CAUCASIAN MOUNTAINS, FROM TIFLIS TO VLADIKAVKAZ 



meanwhile widening into a broad, fertile plain, 
until it meets the Suram range that links the 
two great northern and southern chains of Cau- 
casian Mountains tog-ether. 



356 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Pursuing my journey leisurely through this rich 
valley, I had the opportunity of observing some- 
what the methods of agriculture practised by 
the natives. The soil being well adapted to the 




OVER THE DARIEL PASS, ON MILITARY ROAD FROM TIFLIS TO VLADI- 
KAVKAZ. MOUNT KASBEK IN THE DISTANCE 



culture of all cereals, and receiving an abundant 
rainfall, the valley lands, as also those of the first 
mountain slopes, are under cultivation, while in 
the higher regions they are used for pasture. As 
in the case in the Tschernozium region of Russia, 
to recuperate the temporary depletion of the soil 



AGRICULTURE IN THE CAUCASUS 359 

they let the lands lie fallow for the necessary 
period of time. 

Wheat, barley, oats, and rye are the main 
crops, and a more or less regular rotation of them 
is observed. Indian corn grows well here, maturing 
in the most perfect manner, and constitutes the 
main cereal food of the inhabitants of the West- 
ern Caucasus. In cases where there is a scarcity 
of land, Indian corn is planted immediately after 
the wheat or barley crop has been gathered. The 
insufficient time thus allotted, however, does not 
permit it always to mature, in which event it is 
secured and used as a green fodder for cattle. 

The implements are of the crudest and most prim- 
itive character. The plough employed to break 
up the land is a large, unwieldy affair, and evi- 
dently constructed by the farmer himself. It has a 
wooden mould-board, and is in fact almost wholly 
made of wood. It, however, turns a wide and, 
what is more to the purpose, a very deep furrow, 
as from three to eight pairs of oxen or buffaloes 
are used to draw it. Only the Russians use horses 
for ploughing in the Caucasus. 

They have a curious sort of cooperative associa- 
tion of farmers here, its object being to facilitate 
and cheapen farming operations. One member 
who does not possess a team will furnish the 
plough ; another who has no plough will supply 



360 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



the team ; the third and fourth will either act as 
ploughmen or supply some requisite not possessed 
by the others. By this joint arrangement the lands 
of the association are ploughed, when the company 




SCENE IX A FARM VILLAGE ON THE ARAGYA 



is dissolved, after a continuance of a fortnight or 
three "weeks. 

Equally crude appliances are employed to har- 
row the land, and otherwise put it in condition to 
receive the seed, and which generally is in w^on- 
derful tilth when the primitive means used are 
considered. Indeed, the great yield of grains by 



RESULTS OF FARMING 



363 



such simple means and at such small cost inclines 
one to inquire whether, after all, an adequate in- 
crease would follow the use of more perfect imple- 
ments and a more up-to-date system of farming. 




CART, OR AREA, USED FOR FARM AND ROAD PURPOSES 



Certainly, the results in the Caucasus are not to 
be despised, for there is produced each year in 
that country, above home requirements, more than 
one hundred millions of bushels of grain available 



364 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

for export to foreign countries, or about fifteen 
bushels per capita — a result not equalled by any 
other country. 

A curious vehicle is used for farm purposes, 
called the arba. It is a cart the wheels of which 
are of extraordinary size, and usually fixed rigidly 
to the axle, thus rotating with it instead of each 
having an independent movement. At Mikhai- 
lov a road branches to the southwest, follow- 
ing up the valley of the Kura as far as Borjom. 
This road is to be extended over the Lesser Cau- 
casian range of mountains, toward Kars and Erze- 
roum. 

The main line of this, the Trans-Caucasian, rail- 
road continues westward, crossing the Suram 
Mountains at an elevation of nearly 6,000 feet. 
The engineering difficulties encountered in this 
portion of the route were very great, and the 
road reflects credit upon both the energy and skill 
of those who executed it. At the summit, the 
road passes through a tunnel of some two and one- 
half miles in length. As this line is extensively 
used to transport petroleum from Baku to Batoum, 
on the Black Sea, important arrangements are 
being made to pump the oil over this high range 
of mountains, and thus avoid the expense and diffi- 
culty which now attend its carriage by rail. Al- 
ready great tanks and pumping stations are being 



PETROLEUM PIPE LINES 367 

constructed at Mikhailov for this purpose, and 
large pipes have been laid to the summit, a dis- 
tance of some thirty miles. As the summit is be- 
tween 6,000 and 7,000 feet above the Black Sea, 




IN THE KURA VALLEY 



the petroleum will be conducted thence in pipes 
to Batoum, and, flowing freely by its own gravity, 
it will save the cost of nearly 150 miles of trans- 
portation by rail. 

Borjom is a charming summer resort, nestled 



368 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



among picturesque mountains and along the banks 
of the Kura River, whose rapid current pours in 
swift torrents from the mountain gorges above. 
Very celebrated mineral springs are located here, 




PERSIAN MINISTER S RESIDENCE IN BORJOM 



the waters of which are shipped to all parts of the 
empire. Many splendid villas and residences are 
scattered throughout this romantic region. The 
palace of his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke 



FROM BORJOM TO ABBAS-TUMAN 369 

Michael Is beautifully located on the banks of the 
river, some distance above the city. I was espe- 
cially interested in a most artistic and ornate 
dwelling occupied by the Persian minister, who 
resides here. 

A most excellent road runs from Borjom to 
Abbas-Tuman, a distance of about sixty miles. As 




THE SUMMER PALACE OF HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUKE 
MICHAEL, ON THE BANKS OF THE KURA RIVER, NEAR BORJOM 



relays are provided at intervals of twelve miles, a 
dash through this lovely country is most charming. 
At Abbas-Tuman, the Crown Prince George — 
second son of the late Czar — has a rustic palace 
embowered in the groves of a beautiful park. From 
Abbas-Tuman to Kutais is a distance of nearly 
eighty miles, which is usually driven in a day. The 
road to the summit leads up the steep slope of the 



370 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



mountain, through a wild and dreary region. These 
mountain passes are still infested with many brig- 
ands, and many thrilling stories are told of their 
terrible doings, even in spite of all the precautions 
of the government. 




HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS GRAND DUKE MICHAEL ON HIS DAILY DRIVE IN 

BORJOM 



For the safety of the inhabitants and travellers, 
the whole country is protected by Cossacks, and 
all along the road there are soldiers stationed at 
intervals of a few versts. When a carriage passes, 
several soldiers follow until they are released by 
the next squad. They increase in number as the 



ESCORT OF SOLDIERS 373 

summit is approached, where, when reached, there 
are usually ten or a dozen soldiers as escorts. It 
is beyond words to describe the grandeur of the 
panorama that suddenly bursts upon the view 




SOLDIER ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE, AFTER LEAVING ABBAS-TUMAN, ON 
THE ROAD TO KUTAIS, OVER THE LESSER CAUCASIAN MOUNTAINS 



as the summit is attained, which is done most 
abruptly. 

The stately chain of Caucasian Mountains 
stretches before you, extending several hundred 



374 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



miles to the northwest. As they are nearly loo 
miles distant, and viewed across the broad valley 
of the Rion, an immense section of this great 
range can be seen, which is snow-capped through- 
out almost its whole length. Projecting above the 




STREET SCENE IN KUTAIS 



common summit-level are the ice-tipped peaks of 
the Elbruz, away off in the distance, to the left, 
and rising to a height of 18,500 feet; of Ikhara, 
Koshtan Tau, and Dych Tau, over i 7,000 feet in 
height ; and finally, far to the right, the symmet- 
rical Kazbek, rising 16,500 feet above the sea. 



BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAIN VIEW 



377 



Thus a stretch of fully 300 miles of this grand 
range of mountains lies before you, clothed, for 
much of its height, in a mantle of snow. 

A rapid drive of seven hours brings us to the 




MARKET SCENE IN KUTAIS 



important city of Kutais, the capital of the prov- 
ince of that name. It is on the Rion, or, as the 
Greeks called it, the Phasis River. It was from 
this name that the word *' pheasant " was derived, 



378 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

as this fowl was once in great abundance in the 
mountains at the head-waters of the Phasis River. 
Kutais Hes in the midst of one of the richest coun- 
tries in the world, where all vegetation grows pro.- 
fusely. It is said that almost all kinds of fruits, 
even apples, pears, apricots, etc., grow abundantly 
in a wild state in the neighboring forests. In view 
of the richness of this country, it is no wonder 
that the covetous Greek was tempted to leave his 
barren shores to seek the golden fleece in this 
highly favored land. 

Kutais has many interesting and attractive mar- 
kets and bazaars, at which curious and beautiful 
fabrics in silk and wool are sold. There is a 
school here of much importance, designed espe- 
cially for instruction in horticulture. Kutais has 
one of the finest examples of Georgian architec- 
ture, in a church erected in the eleventh century. 
Tempted by its wealth, the city has been plun- 
dered and destroyed again and again by the Per- 
sians, Mongolians, Turks, and other invading 
races. 



XVIII 

Return to Tiflis — Special permit to visit Central Asia — Great cour- 
tesy of the American Ambassador, Hon. E. A. Hitchcock — • 
Return to Baku — Passage across the Caspian Sea — Arrival at 
Krasnovodsk — A look about that city — Rapid growth of same 
— Its harbor and other natural advantages — Will become an 
important city — Railway station — Splendid structure — Curious 
mixture of natural products — Blending of Oriental and Occi- 
dental races — Possible result — Russia's fondness for American 
products — Use of same in Russia— Her probable future demand 
for Western products — America's opportunity — Trains on the 
Trans-Caspian railway — Courtesy of the railway officials — Emi- 
grants to the far East — Departure from Krasnovodsk — New 
petroleum field— Minerals and metals here — Uzum-Ada, the old 
terminus of railway — The plains of Turcomania — Persian 
Mountains — Central Asia — A vast depressed basin — Caspian 
Sea below ocean level — Similar depression in Sahara Desert — 
Russia's Central Asian possessions — Sterility of Turcomania 
due to lack of rainfall — Oasis of Merv — Strabo's reference to it 
— Three great level plateaus — Amu-Daria and Syr-Daria 
Rivers. 

On returning to Tiflis, the ever-present desire 
of visiting Central Asia again possessing me, my 
guide suggested that I call upon Prince Gallatzin, 
the Governor-General of the Caucasus, who might 
possibly issue the necessary permit. As was the 
case at Baku, this functionary informed me that 
he had no authority to issue one, and that it could 



380 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

be obtained only by direct application to the Min- 
istry at St. Petersburg. In order to save time, he, 
however, advised me to communicate by telegraph 
with the United States Ambassador at that city, 
feeling assured that by his intervention a permit 
would be readily secured. This I accordingly 
did. 

Through the great courtesy and prompt appli- 
cation of our most efficient Ambassador there, the 
Hon. E. A. Hitchcock, in a wonderfully short 
space of time I received a long telegram direct 
from the Russian Minister of the Interior, giving 
the desired permit, with the information, also, that 
he had telegraphed instructions to the Governor 
of East Caucasus at Baku, to the Governor of Tur- 
comania at Merv, the military agent at Bokhara, 
and the Governor of Turkestan at Samarkand and 
Tashkent. Armed with this magic '' open ses- 
ame," I at once set out on my journey. Before 
going, however, I took the precaution to employ 
an additional guide, who was familiar with the 
various languages of that country of mixed 
tongues. 

On arriving at Baku, I found that the governor 
had already called upon the proprietor of the 
hotel, and had left instructions to be informed of 
our arrival. He received us with every mark of ci- 
vility and courtesy, and arranged for our departure 



ACROSS THE CASPIAN SEA 381 

on the boat that evening. He also detailed the 
police agent of the city to wait upon us, which 
enabled me to see many things in this curious 
city that I was unable to see on my former visit. 

Our passage across the Caspian Sea naturally 
was a boisterous one, since it is numbered among 
the most tempestous waters. Being fringed on 
most of its western and southern borders by two 
mountain ranges, among the highest on the globe, 
and its eastern shore forming the western verge 
of the hot, arid plains of Turcomania, such con- 
ditions of extreme heat and cold here exist as 
are likely to result in the sudden development of 
violent gales. 

Arriving at Krasnovodsk in the morning, we 
found that the train for the east did not leave un- 
til the evening. This gave us an opportunity of 
looking about this new city, the recently estab- 
lished terminus of this great railway. 

Uzum-Ada, about sixty miles to the southeast, 
on the bay of that name, was formerly the terminus 
of the railway. On account of the excellent har- 
bor, the fact that it shortens the sea route by 
nearly seventy miles, and other advantages, the 
present location was selected about three years 
ago. Up to that time, it was an obscure Tartar 
fishing village. It is now a busy, thriving town of 
nearly 10,000 inhabitants, with wide streets, excel- 



382 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



lent public and private buildings, electric lights, 
etc. 

A low, rocky, and sterile range of mountains. 




KRASNOVODSK AND HARBOR, THE WESTERN TERMINUS OF THE TRANS- 
CASPIAN RAILWAY, ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF THE CASPIAN SEA 



sweeping from the shore in a semicircular course, 
encloses a space like a large amphitheatre, whereon 
the city is built. The railway station here is a 
rare gem of architecture. It is entirely of hewn 



RAILWAY STATION AT KRASNOVODSK 383 

stone, and merges in its composition the choicest 
elements of Eastern art. It is a splendid com- 
posite of Persian, Saracenic, and Central Asian, 
with even a tinge of Chinese and Hindu. The 
station, like most of those at the main towns of 
this line, has a very large and high central room 
used as a combined waiting and dining room, 
while at either end of the building are located the 
various apartments used for the purposes of the 
company. 

In this zone, where the East and the West over- 
lap in such a bewildering manner, some strange 
affiliations occur. In the main room, with its ex- 
quisite Mohammedan doors and windows, can be 
seen depending from a splendid ceiling of the purest 
arabesque and decorated in the rnost enchanting 
colors, a huge Venetian chandelier, holding incan- 
descent electric lights, made in Austria, and sup- 
plied with a current from an engine and dynamo 
built in Germany. In the middle of the room is a 
large and elegantly carved table from France and 
chairs from Italy, while in one corner of the room, 
for the purpose of weighing luggage, is a splendid 
American platform scale made in Vermont. 

Such a medley of arts and confusion of races 
lead to some strange reflections. The rapidly 
growing conflict between and the ever-increasing 
tendency toward a blending of things Occidental 



384 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



and Oriental, suggest a possible ultimate fusion, 
out of which there may arise a neutral state of 
races wherein the softening idealism of the East 




NEW RAILWAY STATION AT KRASNOVODSK, THE WESTERN TERMINUS OF 
THE TRANS-CASPIAN RAILWAY 

will give a soul to the inflexible materiality of the 
West, which in return will impart a substance to 
Oriental dreams and abstractions. 



AMERICAN PRODUCTS IN RUSSIA 385 

In my travels throughout this great empire, it 
was impossible for me not to observe everywhere 
the many evidences of Russian fondness, and even 
partiality for, American products, especially ma- 
chinery. Even the locomotive that drew the train 
over the first section of the Trans-Siberian railway, 
and also that used on the Trans-Caspian railway 
to Askabad, were American, built in Philadelphia. 

On the Siberian route it is no uncommon thing 
to see, at the stations, American agricultural ma- 
chinery destined to be used in those regions. At 
one station I saw a freight train in which there was 
a car loaded Avith mining machinery and ma- 
chinists' tools, the product of American workshops. 

Considering the immense population of this' 
country, its long and steadfast friendship for 
America, and the still further fact that in order to 
develop her own incalculable resources and those 
of the other Asiatic nations into which she is car- 
rying her influence, there must be created wants 
far in excess of her own ability to supply, thus 
necessitating extensive purchases from other na- 
tions, it seems evident that, by a proper effort on 
our part, this, of all countries in the world, could 
become the most important and profitable field for 
American enterprise. If, unfortunately, we should 
neglect to avail ourselves of the full advantages of 
a situation so promising, I trust at least that we 
25 



386 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

will not suffer ourselves to be decoyed into an atti- 
tude of hostility to Russia, with no better result 
than to play into the hands of some ambitious and 
selfish nation. 

There are trains leaving daily for the East on 
the Trans-Caspian railway, but as they are mixed 
freight and passenger trains, designed to carry sol- 
diers, emigrants, merchandize, and material for 
new railways under construction farther on, they 
offer no facilities or comforts for the traveller. 
There is, however, a train that leaves here three 
times a week, consisting wholly of second, third, 
and fourth class passenger cars, for the purpose of 
accommodating the better class of travel, which is 
rapidly on the increase. This train, usually com- 
posed of twelve or fifteen cars, presents a neat 
and pleasing appearance, all the cars being painted 
snow white, even to the locomotive. They are 
plain in the interior, with uncovered seats, and 
but little comfort. Those who design travelling 
at night are obliged to provide themselves, before 
starting, with bedding, linen, towels, etc. As I 
have before stated, this line being a military road, 
all the officials of the train, the engineer, the fire- 
man, and even the workmen on the track, are 
drawn from the army. 

On presenting my passport and telegram to the 
proper official, he at once, with the utmost polite- 



EMIGRANTS TO FAR ASIA 389 

ness, conducted me to the train and assigned me 
a whole compartment. While the train was being 
made up, I noticed that a large number of emi- 
o-rants w^ere embarkine on it. 

On inquiry I was informed that it was a group 
of over 100 families, which the government was 
assistino- to emio^rate from the overcrowded and at 
present unfortunate district of Saratov, on the 
Volga. As indicating the paternal policy of the 
government, as well as the growing efflux of peo- 
ple from the older into the newer provinces of 
the empire, I would say that they were bound for 
the extreme eastern part of Turkestan, 150 miles 
beyond Tashkent, and that the government was 
granting fifty to eighty acres of land to each adult, 
besides 100 rubles to each family. 

On leaving Krasnovodsk, the train for a short 
space runs directly eastward, when it bears 
south, running for a distance of twenty or thirty 
miles along the shore of the Caspian Sea, and at 
the foot of the low, ruoreed rano-e of mountains 

'00 o 

that dip sharply into its waters. At a distance of 
about five miles, the road crosses at a low level a 
somewhat extensive peninsula, upon which I no- 
ticed a number of what seemed to be new oil 
wells. I was told that recent explorations disclose 
important petroleum deposits in these regions, 
and that there are now in operation some twenty 



390 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



wells, with many new ones being sunk. It is said 
that already there is enough produced here to 
meet the present wants of this side of the Caspian, 




NEW OIL WELLS RECENTLY OPENED ON THE SHORES OF THE CASPIAN 
SEA, ON THE LINE OF RAILWAY BELOW KRASNOVODSK 



Avith every prospect of an ample surplus for export 
at an early day. 

It might be added that the hills and mountains 
in this vicinity abound in iron, copper, salt, sul- 
phur, graphite, and other minerals that must ulti- 





1 




I 


n 


■ 




^1 




K - 


1 


SH 




^M 




^^" 




^H 




1 


1 




..-1 

f 


1 


^^ 


1 


1 


m 


I 


Ih 


n^ 


1 










^■m/SM 


H'' 








'^'iIH 




1 


■ 


m 




J 




i ■" J. 




i 1 


i 

' 


£■■ 








( 




.^HH|^H^H 


-^mt 


K 




-;■ { 


¥ 


^^H 


™ fa 




I^B^ 


Mft 




■^^H^^H 


i -^-^g^^^ 


■ 


■ 


mi 


IHl 


^^^H 



GREAT CENTRAL BASIN 393 

mately be a resource of great value to the vast 
and purely agricultural regions eastward. 

On leaving Uzum-Ada, the original terminus of 
the line, the railway takes a due southern course 
and enters at once upon the arid plains of Turco- 
mania that, like a ereat sheet of water, stretch 
north and south through a distance of nearly 700 
miles, at a height of nearly 200 feet above the 
sea. As the low ranee of mountains cuttinor from 
the Caspian eastward into the desert slowly re- 
cedes from the sight, there comes as gradually into 
view the lofty mountains that rise like a mighty ram- 
part from the plains of Turcomania, and running 
for 400 miles along the northern border of Persia. 

Central Asia presents some remarkable geologi- 
cal and physical characteristics. In a somewhat 
irregular form, and covering an area of nearly 
1,500,000 square miles, it constitutes a great de- 
pressed basin, even descending — as in the case of 
the Caspian Sea, with an area of nearly 200,000 
square miles — to some depth below the level of the 
ocean. Into this great basin, the Volga, Ural, and 
Emba rivers from the north ; the Atok, Murgab, 
Amu-Daria, Syr-Daria, and many other streams 
from the south and east, pour their mighty floods 
— chiefly into the Caspian and Aral seas, which, 
for the want of a channel to the ocean, find their 
only outlet by evaporation. 



394 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

A similar depression exists in Africa, with the 
difference that it is smaller in extent, and that there 
are no large rivers discharging into it. While at 
Chott-Melgig, in the northern Sahara, some years 
ago, I was informed that the shallow salt lake 




STATION ON TRANS-CASPIAN RAILWAY 

there lay some hundreds of feet below the level of 
the Mediterranean, and that if the waters of that 
sea were conducted into it by a canal — regarded 
by engineers as practicable — a large Interior sea 
would be formed. 

What is known as Russia's Central Asian pos- 



PLAINS OF TURCOMANIA 395 

sessions, containing nearly 1,500,000 square miles, 
are made up of the provinces of Turcomania, Bok- 
hara, and Khiva — still semi-independent khanates 
— Turkestan, and the important though somewhat 
indefinite territory recently acquired in Ferghan 
and the Pamirs, near the northwest border of India. 

Turcomania is, throughout, an almost level plain, 
extending from the northern border of Afghanis- 
tan in a northwestern direction about 800 miles, 
and with a width of 300 or 400 miles. A great 
portion of it is almost destitute of vegetation, 
excepting a sort of dry tufted grass, the natural" 
product of an arid soil, and in which the camel 
finds a fairly nutritious food. The sterility of 
this country is almost wholly due to the lack of 
rainfall, as its soil possesses great natural fertility, 
being no doubt, throughout much of its extent, the 
deposit in primeval times of those great rivers 
now running into the Aral Sea, and which once, 
as is very probable, found their way into the Cas- 
pian Sea. 

All along its western border, skirted by the Per- 
sian mountains, which send down many streams 
that are used for irrigation, there is a broad zone 
of w^onderfully productive land reaching far into 
the plain, a test of what a great part of this 
country might become with an adequate supply of 
water. Remote as this may seem, it is not among 



396 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



the impossibilities, as the great Amu-Daria, run- 
nins: alonor and near the eastern border of Turco- 
mania, is of a sufficient elevation to permit its 




VIEW ACROSS THE PLAINS OF TURCOMANIA, BETWEEN ASKABAD AND 
DUSHAK, ON THE TRANS-CASPIAN RAILWAY 



waters beingr carried and distributed throuorh the 

o o 

greater part of the plain below. 

The oasis of Merv — the southeastern portion of 
this province, and watered by the Murgab River, 
havinof its source in the Afghan mountains — is 



POSSIBLE IRRIGATION 397 

little inferior in size, and in its marvellous fertility 
and wonderful productiveness is quite equal, to 
the Nile valley. Strabo, in referring to this re- 
gion, says that the vines sometimes grew so large 
that two men with outstretched arms could scarce- 
ly circle them, and that bunches of grapes were 
produced two cubits in length. 

By a rather easy ascent, the level plateau of 
Bokhara is reached, a country of about 150,000 
square miles area, unsurpassed for the richness of 
its soil and the variety and exuberance of its prod- 
ucts. Throusfh another incline is reached the 
last plateau of Turkestan, which stretches away 
to the foot-hills of the Altai Mountains and to 
the southern border of Siberia. 

Russia's Central Asian possessions may there- 
fore be roughly described as consisting of three 
great level plateaus, rising in successive steps one 
above the other, and extending from the Caspian 
Sea in the west to the western border of China in 
the east. The Syr-Daria traverses the lower bor- 
der of Turkestan, the waters of which it is possible 
to turn into the khanates of Bokhara and Khiva. 
As in like manner the Amu-Daria runs alono- the 
lower border of Khiva and Bokhara, its waters 
might similarly be turned into Turcomania, which 
would make these countries amone the richest and 
most productive on the globe. 



398 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

A somewhat similar distribution of these waters 
must have existed in former times, converting" 
into fertile plains great areas of what are now 
waste, uncultivated lands. This alone can account 
for the presence of those immense multitudes that 
once peopled these regions, the evidence of which 
one discovers on all hands. 



XIX 

The old bed of the Amu-Daria River — Across a desert — Oasis of 
Kizyl-Arvat — Among the Turcomanians — A splendid race — His 
dwelling — Women in Turcomania — Custom of polygamy — Pur- 
chase of wives — Weaving of rugs and carpets — Their crude 
device for same — Work done mainly by girls — Inferiority of the 
new to the old product — Wealth of the Turcoman — Their food, 
clothing, etc. — The camel — Roads in Turcomania — Caravans 
of camels — Along the Persian border — Askabad — New and 
beautiful city — Vegetable products of this region — Culture of 
cotton — Old Teke towns. 

The railway, after leaving the Caspian Sea, for 
a space of fifty or sixty miles follows a well-de- 
fined ancient river-bed, considered by scientists 
to be that of the mighty Amu-Daria, of which some 
engineers claim to have discovered a fairly trace- 
able channel from Kerki, running due west and 
entering the Caspian Sea at a point near where 
the railway leaves the shore. For nearly 150 miles 
the railway crosses a true desert, destitute alike 
of vegetation and water, the latter having to be 
hauled for the purposes of the road and for do- 
mestic uses along the entire section from Kizyl- 
Arvat, a point where the line touches the Kuran- 
Dagh, a spur of the Kopet-Dagh or Persian 
Mountains, and where fresh water is first ob- 



400 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



tained. A perennial stream of water here, de- 
scending from the mountains and used for irriga- 
tion, has created an oasis of considerable size, the 




TURCOMANIAN TARTARS AT KIZYL-ARVAT, STATION ON THE TRANS- 
CASPIAN RAILWAY 



vegetal wealth and beauty of which was in most 
agreeable contrast with the sterile country 
through which we passed. 



AMONG THE TURCOMANS 403 

Here we find ourselves in the midst of the 
Turcoman Tartars, whose dreary and soHtary do- 
main extends indefinitely to the west and north. 
This is physically by far the most splendid race I 



^^-^^^ .-^K^tm^^^m. . n - ^-^^^^ 




TURCOMAN VILLAGE ON THE PLAINS OF TURCOMANIA, BETWEEN KIZYL- 
ARVAT AND ASKABAD 



have ever seen. They are, without exception, 
unusually tall, much above the medium, and it is 
rare to meet with one of ordinary stature. Even 
men of advanced age walk with a step so elastic 



404 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

and in a manner so erect as to excite wonder. 
They possess an open and often a pleasing coun- 
tenance, regular features, and almost always a 
piercing and beautiful eye. Like the Kirghiz, 
they live in tents. Unlike that race, however, 
who ordinarily cluster their tents into villages, the 
Turcoman scatters his at wider intervals through- 
out the country he occupies. The admirable 
physical and other traits of this people are no 
doubt the outgrowth of the open, independent 
life they have so long lived. 

The tent of the Turcoman is round, usually 
from fifteen to thirty feet in diameter, and in its 
exterior aspect is anything but attractive, being 
often weather-worn and dingy. In passing into 
it, no change can be more startling. It is like the 
rapid shifting of a scene in a theatre, so sudden 
is the transformation. It is difficult to conceive 
anything more exquisite than the interior one 
often sees in the tent of a well-to-do Turcoman. 
The floor is covered with carpets and rugs of 
charming designs and exquisite coloring. The 
walls are encircled with lovely hangings and 
tapestries, and the door shielded by portieres of 
richest design, all of which is the handiwork of 
this singular race. 

The women do not, as is so often the case with 
the men, carry into their advancing years the rem- 



TURCOiMAN TENTS 



405 



nants of the grace and beauty that marked the 
vigorous period of their life. They are, more- 
over, onlv of medium stature. The trii*ls, as a 
rule, have only ordinary attractions, but some- 




TURCOMAX TENTS 



times are distinctly beautiful. They literally be- 
spangle themselves with gold and silver orna- 
ments, coins, etc., and they display rings of 
turquoise, and such other jewels as they can 



4o6 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



command. Their costume is of graceful design, 
richly embroidered, and of enchanting coloring, 
the invariable product of their own fair hands. 




TURCOMAN TARTARS AT GEOK-TEPE, STATION ON THE TRANS-CASPIAN 
RAILWAY 



Polygamy is still prevalent among them, as is 
also the custom of purchasing their wives. A fa- 
ther is esteemed fortunate who has a large family 
of daughters, as they are sure to bring him a rich 



WEAVING ORIENTAL RUGS 407 

reward, the more comely selling for from 500 to 
800 and even 1,000 rubles. The father who has 
an equal number of daughters and sons applies 
the money obtained by the disposal of his daugh- 
ters to the purchase of wives for his sons. He is 
distinctly the lord and master of his household, 
and their habits and customs often discover the 
ancient patriarchal traces of the Eastern races. 

Beine anxious to see how the beautiful car- 
pets and rugs were produced, which connoisseurs 
here now esteem as the richest product of East- 
ern textile art, I visited quite a number of their 
homes for that purpose. The smaller ones are 
woven in the tents occupied by the family, but for 
the larger ones a temporary canopy is erected near 
by. The ground is covered by some old carpet or 
other protection for the future fabric. Two poles, 
of a length suited to the width of the carpet to be 
made, are placed at a distance apart to correspond 
with its length. From one pole to the other the 
warp is extended and spaced to suit the fineness 
of the carpet. The warp is made taut by twisting 
one of the poles, which are securely staked to the 
ground to prevent them being drawn together, and 
to preserve the necessary tightness. As the only 
remaining bit of mechanism is a heavy metallic 
comb used from time to time to drive the pile 
firmly together, it will be seen that the rude sim- 



4o8 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

plicity of their appliances is only equalled by the 
marvellous results produced by it. 

The work is done almost wholly by women, and 
most generally by young girls. They are seated 




TURCOMAN GIRLS WEAVING CARPETS UNDER A TEMPORARY CANOPY 
ADJOINING THEIR TENT 

on the ground in a row, each girl having before 
her a number of woollen balls of the various colors 
required by the proposed designs of the carpet. 
A short length or tuft of the woollen thread is 



ORIENTAL CARPETS AND RUGS 409 

dexterously entwined between several threads of 
the warp, and secured by a loop which is cut off 
at a length about double that which the pile is 




TURCOMAN TENT ON THE PLAINS OF TARTARY 

intended to be when finished. After several 
courses are completed, the pile is driven together 
by the metallic comb, and is then clipped off with 



410 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

great care and skill to the proper length. The 
most astounding thing in the whole process is 
that no pattern whatever is used, the women rely- 
ing wholly upon their memory and the eye for the 
arrangement of the colors and development of 
the pattern and designs. As, in the case of very 
fine examples, scarcely more than twenty to thirty 
square inches can be completed by a single opera- 
tive in a day, some of the larger carpets require 
an incredibly long time for completion. I was 
shown one of moderate size, on which three girls 
had been working for over four months, which 
was not yet three-fourths done. It is said that 
several girls join together and purchase the 
necessary material, sharing in the end jointly the 
proceeds of their united labor. 

It is at once apparent to any one at all versed 
in this art that the modern product is vastly in- 
ferior to that of the olden time. They themselves 
are fully aware of this, for when displaying a sam- 
ple, if you ask them if it is an antique, they at once 
ruefully shake their heads, as if regretting to confess 
that they no longer create those miracles of texture 
and color of their ancestors. It is well nigh im- 
possible to obtain superior examples of the old work 
even here, so thoroughly have the Persian, Arme- 
nian, and other merchants searched the country, and, 
when found, exorbitant prices are asked and paid. 



WEALTH OF THE TURCOMAN 413 

Almost the entire wealth and resources of the 
Turcomans are comprised in their herds and 
flocks, as they disdain to cultivate the soil. They 
raise few cattle, but have immense herds of sheep 
and goats. It is upon their sheep that they rely 
mainly for their food and the material for their 
clothing. They usually wear a coat or cloak, 
called a khalat, made from the skin of that animal, 
and a huge cap made of the pelt of the same animal. 

They have, besides, great numbers of camels. 
This is the true home of that patient and useful 
creature, and I cannot remember ever having 
seen so many in any country. It is his constant 
companion, using it to carry his burdens, even 
hitching it to his rude cart, or to his still ruder 
plough, should he so far forget the traditions of 
his ancestors as to use so plebeian an implement. 

The Turcoman possesses, also, a famous breed 
of horses, which, although not desirable in appear- 
ance, are noted for their powers of endurance, 
being capable of performing long and trying 
journeys. It is reported that they can go from 
fifty to sixty miles for days in succession, and that 
also with but little food. They are long of back, 
neck, and limb, and have a scant coat of fine 
hair, but their highly useful qualities compensate 
for their lack of beauty. 

There are few, if any, common roads for vehicles 



414 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

in Turcomania ; but cutting in various directions 
through the treeless and almost trackless waste 
are camel trails, on which, under a cloudless sky 




VIEW ACROSS THE DESERT OF TURCOMANIA, LOOKING TOWARD THE 
PERSIAN MOUNTAINS 



and over burning sands, can be seen long caravans 
of camels plodding their drowsy, solemn way to dis- 
tant lands beyond, with which they hold a rude, 
though not unimportant, commerce. 



ALONG THE BORDER OF PERSIA 



415 



From Kizyl-Arvat, for more than 300 miles, the 
railway line closely hugs the base of the mountain 
range that forms the boundary line between Tur- 




TURCOMAN VILLAGE ON THE OPEN PLAINS, BETWEEN GEOK-TEPE AND 

ASKABAD 



comania and Persia, and the train is therefore sel- 
dom more than a few miles from the border of the 
latter country. This may, perhaps, have a signifi- 
cance in the future relations of these two nations. 



4i6 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Askabad, located about midway between Kras- 
novodsk and Merv, is a beautiful town of consid- 
erable size, having something like 25,000 or 30,000 
inhabitants. It has been entirely built up since 
Russia first occupied this country, scarcely twelve 




STATION AT ASKABAD, ON TRANS-CASPIAN RAILWAY 



years ago ; its population is composed almost 
wholly of Russians, mostly army officials, soldiers, 
and the large class of industrious people who fol- 
low in the wake of the army, and who perma- 
nently identify themselves with the interests ar^d 



CITY OF ASKABAD 



417 



fortunes of the new countries acquired. Like all 
new Russian towns in these regions, it has wide, 
well-paved streets, and beautiful avenues of trees, 
with a stream of running water on either side of 




STATION OF DJU-DJU-KLY, ON THE TRANS-CASPIAN RAILWAY 

the streets. Having an abundance of water, sup- 
plied by a stream descending from the adjacent 
mountains, most of which is used for irrigation, 
Askabad has become the centre of a large and 
highly productive agricultural region. 
27 



41 8 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Fruits of all kinds grow here in the greatest 
profusion, grapes especially being of the most 
extraordinary size and quality. Besides all the 
cereals that grow and develop here, cotton is be- 




SCENE NEAR ASKABAD 



ing grown in considerable quantities. The quality 
is fairly good, and the yield very heavy ; both, no 
doubt, being capable of much improvement in the 
future, as at present it is being grown by the un- 



CULTIVATION OF COTTON 421 

skilled labor of the Turcoman and the immigrant 
Russian, who have as yet but little knowledge of 
this peculiar plant. 

The city is located some miles away from the 
old Teke town, which was once of great impor- 
tance, being formerly one of many defences estab- 
lished by the Tartars against Russian encroach- 
ment. 



XX 



Location of towns on Russian railways — Her occupation of new 
countries — Dushalc, the southern point of the road — Irrigation 
of oasis of Merv — New city of Merv — Railway from Merv to 
Herat — Confidence of Russia in Central Asia — Growth of cot- 
ton — The ancient city of Merv — Extraordinary mounds — Home 
of Kuldja Khan — Curious custom of naming- women — FertiHty 
of the oasis of Merv — Pasture land and jungles — Wild animals 
— In the old city of Merv — Its extent and history — Complete 
desolation — Home of wild beasts — Former population — 
Founded by Alexander the Great — Its destruction. 

It is in order here to refer to a practice of the 
government in locating the stations of its railways, 
so general as to indicate a fixed policy. In ex- 
tending its railway lines through the countries it 
occupies, the stations of the road are invariably 
located at some distance, and often many miles, 
away from the native towns in the region through 
which they pass. Thus the new, or railway, town 
of Merv is twenty-five miles from the old city of 
that name ; the new, or Russian, Bokhara is twelve 
miles from the old city ; and the station of new 
Samarkand from four to five miles away from the 
ancient city. In occupying old countries, it seems 
to be the purpose of the government to soften the 



THE OASIS OF MERV 425 

collision of the new with the older order of things, 
relying on the truly Oriental process of slow 
absorption, rather than the more modern one of 
pressure and compulsion. 

It seems to be her policy to allow the older com- 
munities and cities the fullest possible freedom to 
enjoy and exercise their ancient rights, customs, 
and habits ; and to this end she seeks to avoid 
those violent shocks, changes, and disturbances 
that must inevitably result from bringing into an 
unduly near position the influences of a new and 
too often incongruous civilization. By this pre- 
caution the two will ultimately, insensibly, and 
peacefully merge, the one by gradual decline, and 
the other through a steady advance. 

At Dushak, the road reaches its extreme south- 
ern point, whence it takes a northeastern course to 
Merv. The intermediate country is well culti- 
vated, a condition rendered possible by the waters 
of the Tedjen River, flowing northward, and the 
irrigating Alikhanof Canal, that taps the Murgab 
River at some distance above Merv. 

This town has grown with great rapidity the 
past few years, having now from 15,000 to 20,000 
inhabitants. Being most favorably located for 
strategic and commercial purposes, it is destined 
to some day become a city of much importance. 

From here a railway is being built southward 



426 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



and up the Murgab River, and is already com- 
pleted almost to the very Afghan border. To in- 
sure its early completion, the government, for some 
reason, has recentl}^ been pushing it with much 
vigor, working upon it both night and day. It is 




HOME OF KULDJA KHAN 



also hinted that Russia is quietly, though rapidly, 
extending the line to Herat, the key to Northern 
Afghanistan. 

I was received with great courtesy by the mili- 
tary agent here, through whose kindness I was 
enabled to see the various objects in and about 



RUSSIAN CONFIDENCE IN CENTRAL ASIA 431 

the city. Like all the new Russian towns, the city 
is laid out with great regularity, the streets run- 
ning at right angles and fringed on both sides with 
rows of beautiful trees. The private residences 
are elegant, with all the modern improvements, 
and almost always located in the middle of a great 
square, forming a splendid park. A handsome 
boulevard of several miles in length, and orna- 
mented by a double row of trees on either side, 
extends through the city. Owing to the richness 
of the soil, bright sunshine, and abundance of 
water for irrigation, the creation of a beautiful 
park or delightful boulevard in this genial climate 
is the work of only a few years. 

From the extent and solidity of the improve- 
ments seen everywhere, the Russian has evidently 
entered this country with great confidence, and to 
stay. 

Unlike some nations, she does not send to her 
newly acquired possessions a favored class only, 
to enjoy the emoluments of office or the dignity 
of administering their civil and political affairs ; 
but, regarding each new possession as the prop- 
erty of the whole nation, she hastens to people it 
with her industrial classes, who engage in every 
branch of trade and agriculture. 

In Merv, as in all new towns in this country, 
the Russian element vastly predominates. There 



432 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

are large and excellently appointed barracks here, 
and there are many soldiers, it being an important 
military centre. 

Cotton is extensively grown in this oasis, as also 
in Bokhara, and in the district of Ferghan further 
eastward. In all of these provinces, such reports 
are in circulation regarding the marvellous yield 
secured as to at least indicate that this is to be- 
come an industry of the highest importance in 
Central Asia. 

As I have stated, the ancient city of Merv — 
or, rather, what was once the ancient city, as it is 
now merely a mass of crumbling ruins — is located 
some twenty-five miles from the new town built on 
the railway line. Although there is a station at 
Bairom-Ali, not far from the ruins, I preferred to 
drive thither over a tolerable road, since it afforded 
me an opportunity to observe the habits of the 
natives, and to study at short range the more im- 
portant features of the country. 

About midway there looms up a series of won- 
derful mounds, the extraordinary size of which, 
suggesting an incredible amount of labor to create, 
entitles them to be classed among the greatest of 
curiosities. At a distance they look like a low 
range of mountains, or, rather, very high hills. 
They are right in the centre of a great level plain. 
My inquiries as to their origin and purpose 



THE ANCIENT CITY OF MERV 



435 



elicited no other information than that they were 
probably in some way related to Alexander's con- 
quest and occupation of this country. Their 




IN THE OLD CITY OF MERV 



obvious military character and evident antiquity 
lend some support to this theory. 

A few miles further on, delightfully nestled in a 
beautiful grove, is a handsome white structure of 



436 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

the purest Oriental type. It is said to be the pal- 
ace of the princess by whose treaty the Russians 
came into possession of this country, some ten or 
twelve years ago. She is the widow of the last 
reigning Khan of Turcomania, and is called by 
the Tartars Kuldja Khan, which literally means 
the " flower of the khan." 

These people have a singular though truly 
chivalrous custom of naming their women, the 
name being usually that of a flower, its color, or 
some feature of it. 

Along the whole route I found the land to be of 
surpassing fertility, and the country literally grid- 
ironed by canals and ditches for the purpose of 
irrigation. Being the property of the Tartars, 
who do not cultivate the soil, depending mainly 
on pasturage, it is covered with a heavy growth of 
grass, which at times, uniting with a dense mass 
of shrubbery, forms throughout great areas an im- 
penetrable jungle. 

Wild animals, therefore, of almost every variety, 
even to the tiger, find here a secure home. Our 
driver informed us that only a day or two before, 
some soldiers killed a fine specimen of this animal 
that was found prowling uncomfortably near their 
quarters. 

We enter the old town through an immense arch- 
way in the middle of a long, massive, though half- 



AMONG THE RUINS 439 

decayed wall, that formed one of the many ram- 
parts of this once mighty city. It baffles the im- 
agination to conceive, or the tongue to describe, 
the wide prospect of ruin and desolation that 
spreads before the view. Extending in all direc- 
tions as far as the eye can reach, there is nothing 




DISTANT VIEW OF MERV 



but great heaps of rubbish, crumbling walls and 
buildings, broken arches, with here and there the 
half-preserved ruins of some majestic edifice tow- 
ering over all, and standing like a solemn, solitary 
sentinel to guard the sad remains of former splen- 
dor and greatness. 



440 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 




RUINED MOSQUE OF THE SULTAN SANJARE 



Not a single human creature now dwells In this 
silent city ; the ghoulish hyena and noisy jackal 
find their lair in what was once the glory and home 



EXTENT OF OLD CITY 443 

of nearly 2,000,000 people. The guide, observ- 
ing our astonishment, requested us to turn our 
glass toward an object faintly visible in the dis- 
tant horizon. "That," said he, "is the mosque 
of the Sultan Sanjare ; it is nearly six miles away, 
and directly in the centre of the ruined city." 

The ruins of many mosques, palaces, and other 
buildings, some yet rising to the height of several 
hundred feet, are sufficiently well preserved to en- 
able one to form some idea of what must have 
been the beauty and grandeur of these stately 
structures. Many streets are sufficiently intact 
to indicate the former bustle, throng, and traffic 
of its orreat thorouofhfares. 

It is somewhat difficult to fix with any degree 
of precision the limits of the ancient city. It is, 
however, evident that it must at some time have 
covered a space of from thirty to forty miles in 
circumference, or an area quite as great as that of 
New York or Paris. 

Its greatest former population is variously esti- 
mated at 1,500,000 to 2,000,000. The extraor- 
dinary territory covered may be somewhat ac- 
counted for by the fact that in past time it was 
the custom — one that has, in a large measure, sur- 
vived in Oriental countries — for the better classes 
to surround their houses with largfe ofardens and 
parks, enclosed within the walls of the city. 



444 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



In its palmy days it was called " El-Sherif, the 
Noble," and even yet the natives cherish its mem- 
ory, fondly calling it " Merv, the king of the 
world." 

It might be added that the buildings, being 



. — .flHMMi^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Ht 


--^ 


=*#.•*. I 


^n.. ^I^H 







OLD WALLS AROUND ANCIENT CITY OF MERV 



mainly constructed of brick, not of a very firm 
consistency, were not Avell calculated to resist 
either the destructive efforts of man or the cor- 
roding effects of time. 

Alexander the Great is accredited with having 
founded the ancient city of Merv, which, after 



FINAL DESTRUCTION OF MERV 447 

many vicissitudes through good and ill fortune, was 
at last almost destroyed in more modern times by 
Zinghiz Khan, on which occasion it is said over 
700,000 of its inhabitants were slaughtered. 
Tamerlane infused into it some spirit of revival, 
when it again fell into decline and finally received 
its "coup de grace" at the hands of an Usbeg 
conqueror, who cut the canals of the upper Murgab 
that irrigated the oasis and watered the city, with 
a result as immediate and disastrous as would fol- 
low the severing of the main artery of the human 
body. 



XXI 

At Bairom-Ali — Imperial palace — From fertile fields to burning- 
sands— March of Alexander through the desert — From sterile 
sands to fruitful fields — The Amu-Daria River — Its length, etc. 
— Quantity of water in the Amu-Daria— Great railway bridge 
being erected over the Amu-Daria — Possible diversion of the 
course of this great river — The slow and vast operations of 
nature — Immense deposits of this great river — Karakul — Rear- 
ing of the sheep here known as Persian lamb. 

At Bairom-Ali — named after the last defender 
of Merv — we were received with rare grace and 
hospitality, and were sumptuously entertained by 
Colonel de Kaschtalinsky, the imperial agent there, 
who is directing the important \vork in progress 
at that place. Although a small station only, for 
some reason it has been selected as the site of 
a superb palace for the future use of the Czar, 
which is rapidly approaching completion. Exten- 
sive gardens and parks are being elaborately laid 
out around the palace, that will be of surpassing 
beauty when completed. 

After leaving Bairom-Ali, the train for several 
hours passes though fertile and highly cultivated 
fields, when it suddenly plunges into a desert that 



ACROSS THE BURNING DESERT 



451 



extends nearly 150 miles. The scene is one of 
the wildest and most oppressive desolation. It is 
nothing but an immense sea of the purest sand, 




STATION AT BAIROM-ALI ON TRANS-CASPIAN RAILWAY, ON THE ROAD TO 

BOKHARA 



that by the action of the wind Is heaped into great 
ridges and dunes fully 20 to 50 feet high. Wave 
upon wave and billow upon billow seemed to roll 
in this vast ocean of sand, in towerino- heio^hts, one 



452 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



above the other, from the summits of which great 
clouds were driven Hke the spray from the crest of 
a wave in a stormy sea. Every now and again 




BUNDLES OF FAGOTS USED AS A SAND BARRIER TO PROTECT THE 
RAILWAY AGAINST THE DRIFTING SAND 



fierce whirls and gusts of sand swept in blinding 
drifts over the train, which, with the stifling heat, 
had a most suffocating effect. 

Scarcely a vestige of vegetation exists through 



SUDDEN TRANSFORMATION 



453 



this long and dreary waste ; the flight of a soHtary 
bird or the sight of a lone shrub in the distance 
only emphasized the horrible desolation. The rail- 



1 


1 


^^k. 




"^^--li 






^4^m mM 


1^ 


(i 


^ 




^^Ppf 


6- 




w^KBKit.' \ 




^H 






['* i»*^Mf^^^ 


wm 


5j 


Ik 


HhIh 


4 fl 


md 


in 




l^^^l 


V fl n 1 

1 !^yi 


I 


ip^-a- ,^>BsP 








I^H^^ob 




1 


1 f 






^§ 


m^im^K^^^^^^ 





MARKET SCENE IN THE TOWN OF AMU-DARIA, ON THE BANKS OF THE 
AMU-DARIA RIVER 



way has in many places barriers and guards against 
the drifting sand, such as are used in winter in 
other countries as^ainst drifting snow. 

o o 

It was ri2:ht throuo^h these burnine sands that 



454 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

the intrepid Macedonian led his Grecian hosts on 
his march from Merv to Samarkand and the Trans- 
Oxian country. It is small wonder that his faithful 
and obedient soldiers, after following him for years 
in his career of conquest over Arabian and Persian 
deserts, Bactrian sands and Himalayan snows, 
should at last, in the fertile valleys of Northern 
India, spontaneously throw down their arms and 
stubbornly refuse to follow their insatiable leader 
further. Perhaps this it was that caused the mon- 
arch to weep, and not, as the sentimental historian 
puts it, for " more worlds to conquer," as he had 
just entered upon the verge of the greatest world 
of all. 

The magician's art can scarcely produce an effect 
more startling than that which followed our sudden 
transition from the desert, with its torrid heat and 
blinding sands, to the cool shady groves, the lovely 
gardens and smiling landscapes in the charming 
valley of the Amu-Daria. So abrupt was the 
change that it seemed the work of enchantment. 

Amu-Daria, the town located on the banks of the 
great river of that name, is purely the product of 
the railway, and, like all Russian towns in this land 
of exuberant vegetation, the territory it covers is 
quite disproportionate to its population. Although 
containing over 20,000 inhabitants and being the 
centre of an extensive trade, it is more an assem- 



THE OXUS OR AMU-DARIA RIVER 455 

blage of lovely gardens, groves, and parks than a 
city. The mighty river here, known to the Greeks 
as the Oxus and so celebrated in their annals, de- 
serves, on account of its great size and many pe- 
culiarities, especial mention. 




ON THE AMU-DARIA, ABOVE THE CITY OF THAT NAME 

It has its source in the lofty mountains of 
Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush, flowing north- 
ward through a distance of 1,200 to 1,500 miles 
into the Aral Sea, and therefore has no outlet to 
the ocean. Although its length is but little 
greater than that of the Danube, it is said that 



456 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

its volume of water Is three times as great. Its 
width at the point where the railway crosses it is 
quite equal to the average of the Mississippi River 
between Memphis and Vicksburg. The extraor- 
dinary quantity of water that flows in a river of a 
length so moderate is accounted for by the fact 
that it has its origin in the hia-hest mountain rano^e 
in the world, on whose summit the heavily saturated 
air from the Indian Ocean pours its mighty floods, 
which descend in the Amu-Daria to the north, and 
in the Indus and Ganores southward. 

o 

The railway bridge is over four versts, or nearly 
three miles, in length. It is a modern structure 
built on piles driven into the loose and shifting bed 
of the river. The government is actively pre- 
paring to build an immense iron structure, which 
is estimated to cost about 18,000,000 rubles, or 
over $9,000,000. 

As the bed of the river is only about twenty-five 
feet below the level of the surrounding country, 
and as its channel lies scarcely ten miles from the 
edge where the descent into Turcomania sharply 
begins, the diversion of this river into that country 
is regarded by engineers as a feasible enterprise. 
The cutting of a canal twenty-five to thirty feet 
deep, and fifteen to twenty miles long, w^ould be 
sufficient to form an initial channel through which, 
in the loose alluvial soil and sands, the river might 



THE AMU-DARIA 



459 



ultimately cut its way and return again to its an- 
cient course to the Caspian Sea. 

In this connection, as illustrating the slow pro- 
cesses of nature when on a colossal scale, I 




STREET IN AMU-DARIA 



would say that it is estimated that it would require 
over twenty-five years for the waters of this river 
to reach the Caspian Sea if its full volume were 
suddenly turned in that direction, so great would 



460 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



be the requirements to supply the loss by evapora- 
tion, the needs of the thirsty soil, and to fill the 
many depressions in the vast intermediate country. 




RAILWAY STATION AT THE NEW, OR RUSSIAN, TOWN OF BOKHARA, 
THE OLD CITY BEING TWELVE MILES FROM THE RAILWAY 



The river at the point where the railway crosses 
it is divided into two channels at low water, each 
a little over a mile in width. At its full stage, 
the river extends for three miles from shore 



VAST CHANGES 461 

to shore. The average volume of water is esti- 
mated at about 4,000 cubic meters per second, and 
it is said to contain nearly two per cent, of earthy 
matter, mainly suspended clay. 

It will be seen, therefore, that this mighty river, 
since the time Alexander floated his army across 
it on inflated goat skins, has carried northward 
nearly 2,000 cubic miles of solid matter, enough 
to cover the whole State of Ohio to a depth of 
over 200 feet, and a quantity quite equal to the 
cubic contents of the Alleghanies in the State of 
Pennsylvania. 

The operation of causes so vast is not without 
its adequate effects, for the Aral Sea is already 
200 feet above the level of the Caspian, and in 
future may be so lifted that its waters will over- 
flow and find their way again to that sea. The 
eye of imagination may even discern that in future 
eons the Caspian itself, and even the great basin 
of which it is the centre, may yet be filled by the 
washings of the mountains a thousand miles away. 
The contemplation of cosmic changes so vast, 
wrought by the erosions of time, suggesting the 
ultimate removal of the earth's inequalities, 
teaches anew the lesson that all things seem to be 
travelling toward a final, and perhaps an eternal, 
equilibrium. 

After leaving Amu-Daria, the first station 



462 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



reached is Karakul, which, although a small town, 
deserves especial mention, as from here and the 
surrounding region comes most of what is known 
and so properly prized by the American ladies 




NEW PALACE BEING BUILT BY RUSSIA FOR THE AMEER OF BOKHARA, NEAR 
THE STATION IN THE NEW, OR RUSSIAN, TOWN OF THAT NAME 



as Astrakhan, or Persian lamb. The term Astra- 
khan is a pure misnomer, since none of these 
animals are reared in that locality. The name 
Astrakhan as applied to this commodity no doubt 



AT THE CITY OF KARAKUL 



463 



grew out of the fact that, owing to the favorable 
commercial position of that city at the head of the 
Caspian Sea, it was through Astrakhan that this 




OLD MOSQUE SAID TO HAVE BEEN BUILT BY TAMERLANE 



highly prized article of dress was first introduced 
into the West. 

It is obtained from a peculiar variety of sheep. 
It is an under-sized and scraggy animal, in striking 
contrast with the large, plump, and well-rounded 



464 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



kind that yields the excellent mutton of Bokhara. 
They are almost without exception black, and it is 
about as rare to find a white or light one in the 
flock as is the traditional black sheep in the com- 



■^»mmmgmMMM)tM 



''»»MMM»»jt,X-»,Mj„ 



lilPMIljlllliilijifiii .• . J 




SUMMER PALACE OF THE AMEER OF BOKHARA, BETWEEN THE NEW AND 
OLD CITIES OF THAT NAME 



mon variety. Its wool, instead of being long and 
straight of fibre, grows in short, crisp curls close to 
the body, and is of exceptionally fine texture. 
The quality depends almost entirely upon the age 



THE KARAKUL 465 

at which the animal is killed — the younger it is, 
the higher the grade. 

The very highest quality is produced by a most 
singular practice. As soon as the lamb is able to 
stand on its legs, its little body is tightly sewn up 
in a cloth envelope, in which it is permitted to run 
about for four or five days, when it is killed. The 
purpose of this seems to be threefold — to preserve 
the exquisite lustre and texture of its baby wool, 
to protect it against being soiled, and to add to 
the length of the fibre by a few days' growth, as 
well as more firmly fixing the curl. 

It is called here, in the East, Karakul, taking its 
name from the town and region where it is so exten- 
sively produced. It is not valued in the West 
only, but throughout Central Asia is held in quite 
as high esteem, every one whose means will bring 
it within their reach using it in some form. As 
a sort of guide to its value, I would say that the 
skins of the best quality sell where it is grown at 

$4 to $8 apiece. 

30 



XXII 

Bokhara — Courtesy of Russian officials — The Ameer of Bokhara — 
Area and population of Bokhara — Its destruction by the Tar- 
tars — The ruling race — The Usbegs inferior to the Turcomans 
— Mosques and colleges — The mosque of Tamerlane in the 
Reghistan — Inferior to the ruins of Samarkand — Palace of the 
Ameer of Bokhara — Citadel of Alp-Arslan — Bazaars in Bokhara 
— Buildings, etc. — Customs, police regulations, etc. — Vices and 
virtues of the Bokharians — Temperance among the inhabitants 
— An agreeable contrast — Introduction of opium into Central 
Asia — An instructive incident. 

On my arrival at the new city of Bokhara I was 
met by the military agent there, who at once as- 
signed us a gighiti, or escort, to the old city, twelve 
miles away. Bokhara, while nominally an inde- 
pendent khanate, is in reality under Russian con- 
trol, the Ameer being scarcely more than a vassal 
of the Czar. The government has but few sol- 
diers in this province, and seems to studiously 
avoid any display of authority or sovereignty, 
abstaining from all acts that might be interpreted 
as pressing or coercive. 

It moreover in nowise interferes with the habits 
and customs of the people. Steady and silent 
absorption is relied upon to do the work of assimi- 




THE AMEER OF BOKHARA 




TOWER FORMERLY USED TO EXECUTE CRIMINALS BY THROWING THEM 
FROM THE TOP 



THE AMEER OF BOKHARA 



471 



lation. No doubt to ineratiate themselves into 
the graces of the present ruler, the Russians are 
building a splendid palace for his use at New Bok- 
hara, near the railway station. The Ameer seems 




REGHISTAN, OR MARKET-PLACE, IN BOKHARA, NEAR THE OLD CITADEL 



to submit with an amiable docility to the new 
powers-that-be, and it is said that he is never so 
well pleased as when he is rigged out in the full 
dress and trappings of a Russian general. 



472 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



The province of Bokhara contains over 100,000 
square miles, and about 5,000,000 people. It is 
one of the most fertile on the globe, and is irri- 
gated almost throughout. The Zerafshan River, 
a tributary of the Amu-Daria, is diverted near 




OLD MOSQUE, COVERED WITH VARIEGATED TILES 



Samarkand, and its waters carried in large canals 
to the city of Bokhara, nearly 200 miles, irrigating 
in the meanwhile the adjacent lands through 
which they pass. Excepting the Nile valley, in 
no country, perhaps, are the supreme conditions 
of agriculture so completely under the control of 



VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS 475 

man, or are nature's choicest gifts through the soil 
so easily obtainable. 

Vegetables and fruits grow here in the most 
surprising profusion and abundance. Grapes of a 











^M 






"""^T^^^^^^^^^l 






/| 


H&^^^H 


^^^1^ 


a«i^^g222^^^^^^^^— 


^^^^^^HH 



A GRAVEYARD IN THE CITY OF BOKHARA 

size and quality nowhere surpassed, or scarcely 
equalled, sell here at less than a cent per pound. 
Rich pasturage sustains countless herds of sheep 
that yield meats of the highest quality. 



476 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

The old city of Bokhara is one of the most 
pecuHar, and even unique, in the world. It con- 
tains about 150,000 inhabitants, and is surrounded 
by a massive wall, in which there are twelve gates 
that enter the city. It is a very ancient city, and, 
like Merv, suffered at the hands of the Tartar 
invader, and was burned in the thirteenth cen- 
tury by Zinghiz Khan. The ruling race are the 
Usbeg Tartars. They are tillers of the soil, and 
live largely in cities. Reflecting in many ways 
the enervating influence of a luxurious life, they 
are physically far inferior to their nomadic neigh- 
bor, the Turcoman. 

Excepting Mecca, Bokhara is, perhaps, the cen- 
tre of the purest Moslem faith in the Mohamme- 
dan world. There are about 300 mosques in the 
city, and in addition about thirty Medressehs, or 
colleges, to educate the faithful. Some of the 
mosques are models of beauty, especially that 
built by Tamerlane, in the Reghistan, or market- 
place, in front of the palace. Generally, however, 
they are inferior, both in design and ornamenta- 
tion, to the splendid ruins of Samarkand. 

The palace of the Ameer is located on an emi- 
nence near the western limit of the city. Neither 
in its exterior or interior is it sufficiently striking to 
command especial attention. It, however, derives 
interest from the fact that it was built over 1,000 



THE BAZAARS OF BOKHARA 



479 



years ago by Alp-Arslan, the great Persian king 
who so long and gallantly contested with the East- 
ern Empire of Rome the mastery of the East. 




THE CITADEL IN BOKHARA, SAID TO HAVE BEEN BUILT BY ALP-ARSLAN, 
THE PERSIAN KING. IT IS WITHIN THIS CITADEL THAT THE PALACE 
OF THE AMEER IS LOCATED 



Bokhara has large and important bazaars, but 
as machine-made goods are rapidly supplanting 
the more splendid products of the hand, they are 



48o 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



fast losing their interest. The buildings are low,, 
seldom of more than two stories, and built with 
the flat roof so common in Oriental countries. The 
streets are narrow, and, as they are covered in the 




MUEZZIN CALLING THE FAITHFUL TO PRAYER FROM THE MINARET OF 
A MOSQUE IN BOKHARA 



centre or business portion of the town, it is pos- 
sible to easily walk on the roofs of the houses over 
a large part of the city. 

There are many strange customs and regula- 



POLICE REGULATIONS 483 

tions here. Every gate leading into the town is 
closed at evening prayers, and no one is permitted 
thereafter to enter or depart until after morning 
prayers, some little time before sunrise. More- 



- 


^J 


1 


^^■l 




.-^^^Hi^V 




^^^^^■js^-^^ 









BAZAAR IN BOKHARA 



over, at the same hour even the streets are 
cleared, and no one is allowed to appear upon 
them during the night. To enforce this regula- 
tion, a policeman is stationed every few hundred 
feet, and, besides, a special detail of watchmen 



484 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



walk over the roofs of the houses throughout the 
entire night, beating a lively tattoo on their drums. 
The effect of this is to confine every citizen to his 
home, and the streets are thus absolutely deserted. 




STREET AND OLD MOSQUE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE REGHISTAN, 
OR MARKET-PLACE 

One thing is certain, that life and property are 
thereby made secure in this queer city. 

While there are no doubt many vices here, the 
city is justly entitled to have many virtues recorded 



A TEMPERATE PEOPLE 



487 



to its credit. I was told by the keeper of the 
caravansary at which we stopped, that theft is 
almost unknown. He said he had been in the city 
for ten years, during which time not a single case 




RUINS OF ANCIENT MOSQUE NEAR THE REGHISTAN, IN BOKHARA 

had come to his notice. As the Mohammedan is 
not only theoretically, but de facto, an absolute 
teetotaller, the use and sale of alcoholic liquors 
of all kinds, even beer and wine, are rigidly pro- 



488 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



hibited. After having witnessed the wretched and 
debasing effects of the unrestrained use of intoxi- 
cating drinks among nations laying claim to a high 
civilization, this splendid example of sobriety by a 




IRRIGATING CANALS ON THE, PLAINS OF BOKHARA, ON THE ROAD TO 
SAMARKAND. WATER DRAWN FROM THE ZERAFSHAN RIVER 



so-called heathen nation was, to say the least, re- 
freshing. 

At this point I cannot forbear relating an inci- 
dent that occurred at Merv, bearing directly upon 



PROPOSED INTRODUCTION OF OPIUM 491 

the great question as to the future condition of 
the Oriental races when brouofht under the influ- 
ence and power of the Western nations, as doubts 
less they ultimately will be. 

While in that city, I was invited to a dinner 
given by a Russian high in authority, at which 
there were several other officials, both civil and 
military, as well as a number of resident business 
men. Durine the evenino- the conversation 
turned upon the material resources and probable 
industrial development of Russia's Central Asian 
possessions, which led our host to refer to an 
interestinof circumstance. 

A year or so before, an Englishman with im- 
portant business connections, who was making a 
tour in that region, was a guest at a dinner given 
by this same official. The usual discussion nat- 
urally arising as to the future trade possibilities of 
Central Asia, his guest, he said, took occasion to 
suggest that it might be a profitable business ven- 
ture for Russia to introduce the opium traffic into 
that great country. 

Having in mind, evidently, the demoralizing re- 
sults produced by England's forcible introduction 
of opium into China, the condemnation of this 
proposal, expressed by the Russian official, was 
severe in the extreme. 

I shall never forget his look of scorn and con- 



492 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



tempt as he referred to what he called so extraor- 
dinary a proposition, that, for the sake of mere 
sordid gain, they should follow the example set in 




COLLEGE, OR MEDRESSEH, IN BOKHARA 



China, and introduce this baneful drug, with its 
pernicious consequences, among the gentle, indus- 
trious, and temperate races under their care and 
control in Central Asia. 



XXIII 

Bokhara to Samarkand — Residence of Governor of Turkestan — His 
great civility^^— Beauty of Samarkand — Avenues of acacias and 
poplars — Tiie old city of Samarkand — In ruins, but picturesque 
— Once a great capital — Splendor under the Arabs and under 
Tamerlane — A seat of learning — Architecture in old city of 
Samarkand — Colleges in Samarkand — Mosques, tombs, and 
palaces — The Shah-Zindah — The Tilla-Kari and Khanym — 
Exquisite effect of tessellated tiles — The great mosque erected by 
sister of Tamerlane — Similarity of architecture between Central 
Asia and that of the Moguls in India — A huge pulpit and 
voluminous Koran. 

Leaving Bokhara in the evening, we arrived at 
Samarkand in the forenoon of the next day. We 
went direct to the palace of the Governor of Tur- 
kestan, and were received with that poHte attention 
so characteristic of all, and especially of the higher, 
Russian officials. The residence of the governor 
is a handsome structure, nestled in. the midst of a 
most beautiful garden and park, and is furnished 
throughout with the choicest products of Eastern 
art. 

On making known our wishes we were promptly 
assigned an escort, whose duty it was to constantly 
attend us in and about the city during our stay. 



494 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

We were also informed that the miHtary agent 
would be ready to respond to our wishes. Al- 
though Tashkent, in virtue of its being nearer the 
centre of Turkestan, is to become the future cap- 




PARK IN THE CITY OF SAMARKAND, IN FRONT OF THE TOMB OF 
TAMERLANE 

ital of this great province, for the present its affairs 
are conducted from Samarkand. 

There are, perhaps, few cities in the world that 
will at all compare with the rare and peculiar beauty 



RUSSIAN CITY OF SAMARKAND 



497 



of the new, or Russian, Samarkand. It presents the 
appearance of having been literally carved out of 
a dense forest of poplars and acacias, many square 




MOSQUE NEAR THE REGHISTAN, AND BUILT BY TAMERLANE, IN 
SAMARKAND 



miles In extent. The tall trees, whose branches 
almost interlace overhead, form streets of excep- 
tional width, and, crossing at right angles, they 
form hollow squares, in the centre of which the 
32 



498 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



residences and even business houses are located. 
In fact, a more perfect sylvan city would be hard 
to imagine. Along both sides of the streets are 




MOSQUE NEAR CENTRE OF CITY, BUILT BY TAMERLANE, CALLED THE 
TILLA-KARI 



running streams of pure, clear water, drawn from 
the mountains some miles away. 

Like many other unfortunate cities whose wealth 
and splendor caused them to become the prey of 



OLD CITY OF SAMARKAND 



501 



the despoiler, and which, through centuries of mis- 
fortune and ever-changing masters, descended at 
last to a fixed state of hopeless despair, the old 
city of Samarkand, located at some distance from 




STREET SCENE IN SAMARKAND, SHOWING THE MOSQUE OF KHANYM, 
ERECTED BY TAMERLANE TO HIS FAVORITE \VIFE, A CHINESE PRINCESS 



the new, is now scarcely more than a suggestion 
of its former orreatness. Its streets are narrow 

o 

and unclean ; its houses small and untidy ; and the 
great structures that were once its pride lie scat- 



502 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



tered about, many in mouldering ruins, and most 
of themx in the last stages of decay ; all of them, 




STREET SCENE IN SAMARKAND 



however, present an interesting and picturesque 
appearance. 

There is, perhaps, no city in the world that con- 
tains so many, or such a variety of, splendid ruins 
as this. It was known to the ancients as Mara- 



THE GREAT TAMERLANE 505 

canda, and was used by Alexander as a base for his 
military operations in Sogdiana. It rose to great 
eminence in the tenth century, and then fell under 




ENTRANCE TO THE MOSQUE SHAH-ZINDAH. TESSELLATED TILES, WITH 
VARIEGATED COLORING 



the hand of that merciless destroyer of nations, 
Zinghiz Khan. After the mighty Tamerlane as- 
cended the throne of Zagatai, he made Samarkand 
his capital, and by his efforts it became a brilliant 



5o6 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

centre of art, refinement, and learning, that, under 
this ruler and his successors, long shone as the 
brightest star in the Asiatic firmament. 

The genius of Tamerlane can be seen every- 
where reflected in the architecture and art of this 
city and the surrounding country. Many of the 
finest mosques and colleges are his creation, not- 
ably the Tilla-Kari and the Khanym, the latter 
erected in honor of his favorite wife, who was a 
Chinese princess. Some of the chief buildings, 
which are fairly well-preserved, and the mosques 
whose domes, facades, and minarets are yet cov- 
ered with tessellated tiles, of those enchanting 
blues and other colors so in favor with the Per- 
sian and Saracen — arranged in exquisite and varie- 
gated patterns and designs — combine to produce 
an indescribably charming effect. 

What was perhaps the largest, and generally es- 
teemed one of the most beautiful, mosques in the 
Mohammedan world, is the Shah-Zindah, just out- 
side of the present, and which once must have been 
in the midst of the old, city. ^The memorial mosque, 
however, built by Tamerlane's sister, when in its 
best estate, must have been without a peer in the 
world's rare creations of architecture. It is still 
sui^ciently well-preserved to enable the imagina- 
tion to restore it in its wondrous pristine symmetry 
and peerless beauty. 



CENTRAL ASIAN ART 509 

Indeed, to my mind there is but one building 
in the world that can justly rank as a rival, and 
that is the memorial mosque erected in India by 
the Mogul ruler Shah-Jehan to his favorite wife, 
the Taj-Mahal. To all who are familiar with the art 




STREET SCENE IN SAMARKAND. STREET LEADING FROM RAILWAY STATION 
TO THE CITADEL IN THE CITY 

that developed under the Tartar dynasty of North- 
western India, a similarity is apparent so striking 
as to suggest that it received its inspiration from 
Central Asia. It is said, in fact, that the architect 
who designed the Taj-Mahal came from the latter 
country. As it is a matter of history that the 



510 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



Tartar ancestors of those who founded the Mogul 
Empire in India came originally from Central Asia, 
it is a reasonable supposition that its art also may 
have been transplanted to the former country. 





.. 










1 ^ 




1 


^H|^^^^@^> ■ -•'-' 


.««^*'i 




1 




^^^^^r^'^M 


9EK^^ 




i 






^B^KBk*^"- 




^^^^^^^^^^ 




TffJU'i *7'Wtl&iJKyi5H 


^^^^^^^F^ '^:^fll 






^^^^Kl^f.^^^^H^I 







RUINS OF THE MOSQUE BUILT BY SISTER OF TAMERLANE. ONLY A S^L\LL 
PORTION OF IT REMAINS IN GOOD STATE OF PRESERVATION 



Within a grove in front of this mosque is an 
immense marble block, supported by six columns. 
In the upper part of the block a large V-shaped 
groove is cut, in which was formerly placed a huge 



HUGE VOLUME OF THE KORAN 513 

volume of the Koran, from which the officiating 
priest read lessons to the surrounding multitude. 
This great book, which is still preserved in the 
archives of the mosque of Shah-Zindah, has leaves 
which seem to be from three to four feet wide and 
four to five feet long. 

33 



XXIV 

Medressehs or colleges in Samarkand — The tomb of Tamerlane — 
The sarcophagus of the great Tartar — Interior ornamentation — 
The Russian citadel — Kok-Tash, or throne of Tamerlane — The 
Shadman-Melik — Its peculiar construction — Excursion in the 
mountains — The beauty of Samarkand — Reminiscences of Alex- 
ander the Great — Social customs, etc. — Polygamy — Peculiar 
equipage. 

There are ten or a dozen Medressehs, or native 
colleges, here, some of them accommodating many 
hundreds of students. The buildings are two 
or three stories high, enclosing a quadrangular 
space, in which also the students live, and thus 
they much resemble the colleges of English uni- 
versities. At one side there is invariably located 
a mosque for the use of the college. 

The Gur-Amir, or tomb of Tamerlane here, is 
worthy of that mighty conqueror. It is of the usual 
mosque form, and surmounted by a high and ornate 
dome. In the centre of an octagonal-shaped room, 
immediately beneath the dome, is placed the 
sarcophagus containing the remains of this great 
warrior. It is a huge block of solid jasper, highly 



THE TOMB OF TAMERLANE 



517 



polished and covered with Cufic inscriptions. On 
each side is a large porphyry sarcophagus, contain- 
ing respectively the remains of his son and prime 






STREET SCENE IN THE NEW, OR RUSSIAN, CITY OF SAMARKAND 



minister. The whole room, as well as the ceiling 
of the dome, is richly colored and covered with or- 
namental arabesque fret-work. Through beauti- 
fully stained glass windows the light is admitted 



5i8 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



and diffused through the room in soft, delicate 
tints. 

The old palace is located in what is now a Rus- 



■1 
1 


i 




1 




.'•V- t^ 










-r^ 










^P^ r^^P 


.•#** 




^'^ 


^3^ - '' 


^Ep 


Ell 




^ 






^^^^m- 




, f 






iwBBfeS/ ..^ 


R^^ -^c^ 



TOMB OF TAMERLANE, LOCATED ON THE EDGE OF A GREAT PARK IN 
THE NEW, OR RUSSIAN, CITY OF SAMARKAND 



sian citadel. It contained the celebrated Kok- 
Tash, or throne of Tamerlane, which was situated 
in what once was the audience hall of that king. 
It is a square block of polished jasper of some ten 



THE SHADMAN-MALIK 



521 



feet In length, and, like the sarcophagus, is covered 
with inscriptions in Cufic letters. 

About twelve miles distant from the city are the 
remains of an ancient bridge, the construction of 




ENTRANCE TO THE TOMB OF TAMERLANE 



which is accredited to Tamerlane, called the Shad- 
man-Malik. It was thrown across the Zerafshan 
River, which here spreads over the valley in many 
channels or branches. The bridge must, therefore, 



522 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



have been an immense structure, and built in a 
series of great arches. Only one remains intact, 
although the partial remains of many are yet 
easily traceable. They were constructed of brick, 
and I should judge were nearly loo feet span, and 




EXTERIOR OF TOMB OF TAMERLANE, IN NEW, OR RUSSIAN, CITY OF 
SAMARKAND 



of a height of sixty to eighty feet. For some un- 
accountable reason the arches did not extend in a 
straight line, but were all placed at an angle to 
each other, giving to the long structure a zigzag 
course. 



< 




SCENERY NEAR SAMARKAND 



525 



We made a pleasant excursion into the hills and 
low range of mountains to the northeast of the 
city. While affording many charming views and 
much picturesque scenery, this region derives es- 
pecial interest from the fact that it was here Alex- 




STREET SCENE IN SAMARKAND 



ander received a dangerous wound, and sustained 
his first, and perhaps only, reverse, at the hands of 
the fierce hill tribes of this locality. If history be 
not at fault, this was not the only wound received 
here by this dauntless warrior, for he also fell a 
victim to the charms of the fair Roxana, the 



526 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



daughter of a mountain chieftain, whom he after- 
wards made his queen. 




BURIAL PLACE OF MOHAMMEDAN SAINTS, NEAR THE GREAT MOSQUE 
OF THE TILLA-KARI, IN SAMARKAND 



There are many social customs and pecuHarities 
here that lend a varied interest to the city. Polyg- 
amy still prevails and wives abound, the number 



A MOHAMMEDAN FAMILY 



529 



that a man takes unto himself being limited, as 
In other Mohammedan countries, by his means 
to support them. It Is no uncommon sight to see 
a native cart, with Its huge wheels and one horse, 
passing slowly down the shady streets, the rider — 



^^HBk.' ' i 


r 

k ■ 




A 







MARKET SCENE IN SAMARKAND 



It has no driver — richly dressed, wearing an Im- 
mense turban, and perched on the very shoulders 
of the horse to guide the vehicle, on the floor of 
which, closely veiled, can be seen a number of 
women, often a half dozen. Having so frequently 
observed this peculiar outfit, I was moved to in- 
34 



530 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

quire the real nature of so strange an equipage, 
and was informed that it was the custom of 
wealthy men thus to take their wives out for an 
airing. 



XXV 

Natives, or Sarts — Seeing native life and customs — Dinner at the 
residence of the Amban or native mayor of Samarkand — Our 
host and his guests — Oriental features of the occasion — Brilliant 
surroundings — The Russians — The dances — No women as 
dancers — Boy dancers dressed in the habits of women — The 
music of the Sart — At first unpleasant — Wherein lies the charm 
of Oriental music — Due to rhythm — Influence hypnotic — Similar 
emotional state of howling and dancing dervishes — The din- 
ner — Various native dishes — Kiabab — Cavourna — Pilaf, etc. — 
Oriental dancing — Producing similar effects by rhythm of mo- 
tion — Concluding reflections. 

This region is peopled by a peculiar race called 
Sarts who, in many of their traits, seem to be mid- 
way between the Chinese and the Tartar, being, 
as it is said, next to the Chinaman, the most skil- 
ful agriculturists in the world. Having expressed 
a desire to see their domestic life in its primitive 
and characteristic forms, the governor most oblig- 
ingly instructed the Amban, or mayor, of the old 
city to provide for us a dinner and entertainment 
that would reflect the chief habits and customs of 
the people. It was arranged to take place at the 
residence of that official, who was himself a native 
of great wealth and influence. 

On our arrival at the appointed hour, we found 



532 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



already assembled a large number of guests, all 
natives and friends of our host, and, from their ap- 
pearance, wealthy and influential citizens. The 




A MOHAMMEDAN AND HIS WIVES. SCENE IN THE PARK IN THE NEW, 
OR RUSSIAN, CITY OF SAMARKAND 

residence was purely Oriental in design, construc- 
tion, and ornamentation, the Persian element 
entering largely into it — a preference I had often 
before observed shown by these people. It was 



NATIVE BANQUET 



533 



two stones in height, enclosing an open court of 
perhaps eighty feet square, entirely covered for 
the occasion by large rugs, rich in brilliant color- 
ings and tasteful patterns. The owner, with his 



^H ' B^^^^^^^^^ 


■ 




w 






■Bj 


M 



NATIVES, OR SARTS, FATHER AND SON 



family, occupied the front and two sides of the 
building, the rear one being reserved for the do- 
mestics. 

The dining- table was located on a sort of wide 



534 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



veranda or dais running around the interior of the 
building at some height from the ground, from 
which we looked directly upon the court below; at 




MEDRESSEH, OR NATIVE COLLEGE, LOCATED IN THE OLD CITY OF 
SAMARKAND. THERE ARE SAID TO BE SOME TWENTY COLLEGES IN 
SAMARKAND 



the opposite side of the court the musicians, some 
ten or twelve in number, as is the custom of the 
country, sat squatting on the carpets. The table 



GUESTS AT BANQUET 



535 



accommodated about thirty guests, and, excepting 
two Russian soldiers in full military dress, detailed 
by the government for this function, there were no 



H^^ 


i^W 




aHI 




J 






^.?4,ui*....ii!- 


, lii^ilj;^.^ 


k- 


■■"""^3 




iiiso»^-M:s^^8 



STREET SCENE IN THE OLD CITY OF SAMARKAND, LEADING FROM THE 
PUBLIC SQUARE TO THE GREAT MOSQUE OF TAMERLANE 



foreigners other than ourselves. There were no 
women present, as they are, in fact, rarely seen on 
any public occasion. 

In addition to the musicians, there was provided 



536 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



for our entertainment a full corps of professional 
dancers, composed of youths from fifteen to eigh- 
teen years of age, and dressed as girls — no women, 




IN THE OLD CITY OF SAMARKAND. STREET LEADING TO THE GREAT 
MOSQUE OF THE SHAH-ZINDAH. NATIVE SARTS IN THE FOREGROUND 



as is the custom throughout the East, being per- 
mitted to publicly appear in any kind of theatrical 
representation. The instruments were the usual flat 
drum, a sort of clarionet, and cymbals. Immediately 
after the beginning of the dinner, the music com- 



ORIENTAL MUSIC 



537 



menced, and continued, with onl}^ short intervals, 
during the entire repast. The highly-pitched 
voices of the singers, mingled with what at first 
seemed the discordant din of the instruments, 




STREET SCENE IN THE RUSSIAN, OR NEW, CITY OF SAMARKAND 



produced anything but a pleasant effect. Such 
is the inscrutable law of adjustment, however, 
that after beinor under its influence for several 

o 

hours, not only did it cease to be unpleasant, but 



538 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



I even began to discover elements of beauty and 
pleasure in it. 

I wish I were sufficiently versed in music to 
make an effort to determine wherein lies the 
charm of the music of the East, since it certainly 




RUINS OF THE MOSQUE OF THE SHAH-ZINDAH, IN THE OLD CITY OF 
SAMARKAND. SAID TO HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE GRANDEST IN THE 
MOSLEM WORLD 



has a decided charm for the Oriental ear, as they 
always listen to it in a dreamy silence. I am 
inclined to think that it is due to its rhythm, pro- 
ducing a sort of hypnotic spell upon the hearer. 
To the influence of rhythm is evidently due that 



ORIENTAL DANCING 



539 



strange entrancement displayed by the dancing 
and howling dervishes of the East, and the some- 
what similar mental and emotional state shown 
by the negro In America on certain occasions of 
high religious excitement. 




ENTRANCE THROUGH THE ENCLOSING WALL THAT SURROUNDS THE TOMB 
OF TAMERLANE, IN THE CITY OF SAMARKAND 



The strange effect of adjustment was exempli- 
fied by a circumstance that occurred while on a 
visit to Japan some years ago. I fell in with a 
highly intelligent Japanese gentleman, who had 
returned a few months before from England, where 



540 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



he had spent fifteen years, and had graduated at 
one of its leading universities. He had been 
sufficiently long in the West to become familiar 
with its customs, and had, as he said, acquired 
some fondness for its music. I asked him which 

















''•:■' 


-.fiq. , 


■ • -1 


^../> P-r"-> 


WM^'-' '"' 


M 


■^ 


Up 


'"■'M 


mfm-^'i'M\ji'k4 


■ 


g^^;' 




K 




'^I^H 








■■'■ '^'r^V':'- ^<- 




^^^-^'te 


M 


tmrn'-- 


. ■ ; ; V? ■ 


' M 


-v^. 






BP^f^fl 


i|^»r^ 








1^ ^'^ ^■■■■■" 


^ 


J 


'f 


i 


'-'':': IB 


i 


jmgi^^^M\ 


*■',"' ■ '" • 


fc 

>..- 


m 


P 


S^ 


f ^wB||PPPBKMBHSB|fe 


ftiJi^^-t 


1 


I 




_ 


'VHH^H 


[HM^^^^£^»Q«| 


1 


1 


B^." 




-"""^-^H 


% 




^^ 


■ ^^^s|J 






^c^ 


^Hb 


BM"^^.,. ,..3P>^¥ 



VIEW IN THE PARK IN THE OLD CITY OF SAMARKAND 



he preferred, when he freely admitted that he 
liked best the simple music of his own country, 
which to me was almost painful. 

The viands served by our host were entirely 
those of the natives. The first dish was called 
Kiabab, made of minced meat, previously cooked 



ORIENTAL DINNER 



543 



and dellciously flavored, wrapped in successive 
layers of a thin sheet of dough, forming small 
rolls, and dropped into some sort of hot fat and 
browned. The second dish was called Cavourna, 




NATIVE MUSICIANS IN THE OLD CITY OF SAMARKAND 



and was a kind of meat stew, made of mutton and 
various vegetables, such as tomatoes, etc. 

The great dish, however, Xh^ piece de resistance, 
was Pilaf, which, like the curry of India, is the 
main article of diet in the Central East. It is 
made by mixing choice bits of fried mutton with 
boiled rice, to which is added something like curry. 



544 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



It constitutes a palatable and withal a most di- 
gestible and wholesome dish. The last course 
was fruits, the variety and excellence of which I 
will not attempt to describe. Although wines of 
many choice varieties, produced by the resident 




DANCERS AT BANQUET IN THE OLD CITY OF SAMARKAND 



Russians, were liberally served, I noticed that not 
one of the guests — all being Mohammedans — 
touched it, not even to respond to a toast. 

The dancing was of a variety so universally in 



CHARM PRODUCED BY RHYTHM 545 

vogue throughout Oriental countries. It is in its 
nature essentially allied to their music, a like 
effect being produced in both instances by the 
same primary cause — rhythm — acting in the one 
case through the ear, in the other through the eye. 









^ 






/ 


, .^ 


^ 




jUr 


"" '"'"^'^^'^^ 




mT^ \ ^-^Pl 


IF 


-^t^P^ 




^^^^l^d^ 


iscswes^ 






'^RBSR^BPm^ 




•• . _ '. ^ 




^^ 



SHADMAN-MALIK, OR BRIDGE OF TAMERLANE, OVER THE ZERAFSHAN 
RIVER, TWENTY MILES FROM CITY OF SAMARKAND 



What is accomplished by the almost monotonous 
repetition of rhythmic sounds, is done quite as 
effectively by the continuous repetition of gentle 
and graceful movements of the limbs and the 
body. The combined effect, therefore, of their 
music and dancing is to lull those who are accus- 
35 



546 



SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 



tomed to It into a drowsy, dreamy mood. Occa- 
sionally a dancer would suddenly break away from 
the rest and, in rapid gyrations and dizzy whirls, 
spin around in a great circle, his long, loose hair 




MARKET SCENE IN THE OLD CITY OF SAMARKAND 



and flowing robe in the meanwhile circling in the 
air with curious effect. 

At different intervals a magician, juggler, or 
acrobat was called in to lend additional interest to 
the entertainment. So absorbed was I in all that 
was occurring that I took no note of time, and on 
suddenly discovering that more than three hours 



REFLECTIONS 



547 



had been consumed, I at once signified to my 
host that I must depart. Amid many profound 
salaams, and a profusion of good wishes for our 
welfare and safety, we took our departure from 
scenes and experiences that I shall always remem- 
ber as the most weird and interesting of my life. 




STREET SCENE IN THE NEW TOWN OF SAMARKAND 



While returning, I pondered much on the in- 
scrutable causes that operate to create nations, and 
to control their destinies. How strange it seemed 
that, by the influence of what appear to be the 
same causes and similar natural laws in different 
regions of th 



e orlobe, there are created races so 



548 SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA 

widely divergent in customs, habits, and modes 
of thought, and even in physical characteristics. 
More wonderful still is it, that a sudden and vio- 
lent change from the fixed conditions of one 
nation to those of another is often followed by 
national and even racial death. 

Perhaps we may find a partial solution of these 
mvsteries in the fact that what we are accustomed 
superficially to regard as identical or similar con- 
ditions may, upon a closer analysis, prove to be 
widely different in essential particulars ; and, there- 
fore, whatever peculiar traits a nation may dis- 
play will be found to be only the natural and 
necessary outgrowth of the special conditions 
under which it evolved. 

These reflections would seem to harmonize with 
what a great philosopher has declared to be the 
general law of life — " the adjustment of internal to 
external relations." They also tend to carry us 
closer toward the inquiry, whether our thoughts, 
customs, tastes, and even our physical being may 
not be merely the continuous product of the en- 
vironing conditions in which, and by which, we 
exist. 

THE END. 



visv ^vHJ.^Ja^ qnv vmaais mi s'laAvax sih ni >iOHxnv hhx Aa aas.i 'x"aodSsvj aaasiA 



-■nf?^ 



/{'imi 



<S-\f 



.^^r 



/ 



r^^r^tf^rj/ i^-Ut^ 










-fe/ 







J/ 



/ \ 











/ 



1 .;!,; /^™<^, 






'^' 



^? 



^i// 



^- 



HK 13 79 













N. MANCHESTER, 
INDIANA 46962 







^^ A^ ^ 



,_ _. >P-^^. 

^o^- '■>-:,■> ,0- -tf 



